rai-epic-design

Epic planning transforms strategic objectives into bounded, actionable epics by defining scope, architecture, and independently deliverable stories. It creates clear in-scope and out-of-scope boundaries with measurable done criteria for epics spanning 3 to 10 stories.

Gemba-driven design mandates reading real code, identifying existing patterns, and mapping real dependencies before proposing work. It is needed when initiating epics that require graph-based introspection and architecture decision records to prevent duplication and waste.

Story decomposition breaks epics into 3 to 10 independent, MVP-focused stories with sizing, dependencies, and waste checks. This ensures each story can be delivered independently while maintaining alignment with the overall epic scope and architecture.

Epic planning applies to multi-story work spanning three to ten features. For work involving fewer than three features, the formal scope.md and design.md artifacts with tier1 graph queries and ADRs may be excessive for the required effort.

Epic scoping requires producing scope.md and design.md artifacts, alongside architecture decision records for major tradeoffs. It also generates a parking lot for out-of-scope items and defines measurable done criteria and risks for the epic.

Architecture decision records document significant cross-epic tradeoffs during epic design. They surface architectural decisions, capture major tradeoffs, and are produced alongside scope.md and design.md after running tier1 graph queries and gemba code reads.