task-breakdown-phase

Task breakdown transforms project plans into concrete, test-driven task sequences. It generates 20-30 right-sized tasks per feature, applying red-green-refactor cycles with explicit dependencies and measurable acceptance criteria for implementation.

In a TDD workflow breakdown, the right size for a task is 0.5 to 1 day of effort. This sizing yields a total of 20-30 tasks for typical features, ensuring each component has dedicated test, implementation, and refactor tasks.

Mapping dependencies and critical paths during feature planning requires analyzing task sequences to identify parallel work opportunities. The breakdown process produces a dependency graph and highlights the critical path to guide implementation order.

Task breakdown does generate measurable acceptance criteria within a tasks.md file. This output artifact provides a ready-to-follow sequence with explicit dependencies, implementation notes, and file paths for the implementation phase.

Using the task breakdown phase requires an existing plan.md as input. It analyzes your high-level project plans to produce the tasks.md output, meaning you must have a defined plan ready before generating the test-driven task sequence.

Including refactor tasks in a project task breakdown ensures a TDD-first workflow by completing the red-green-refactor cycle. For each component, generating a test task, an implementation task, and a refactor task drives continuous code quality during execution.