create-epic

Create Epic Document

Decompose large work into independent Stories and create an epic document.

Purpose

The core purpose is Story decomposition - breaking down large work into independent Stories that can be implemented in separate sessions.

Epic documents are NOT primarily for:

• Requirements organization (that's what spec does)
• Progress tracking (that's a side effect)

Input

This skill receives Why/What context from kickoff interview via session history.

Story Independence Criteria

A Story is independent when:

1. Can be implemented in a separate session - After /clear, this Story alone provides enough context
2. What can be expressed in one sentence - If you need multiple sentences, consider splitting

Key question: "Can I start working on this Story without waiting for another Story to complete?"

• Yes → Independent
• No → Has dependency (document it)

Process

1. Confirm Why/What from kickoff

Review the interview results:

• Why: Background, motivation, problem being solved
• What: High-level goal to achieve

If unclear, ask for clarification before proceeding.

2. Decompose into Stories

For each potential Story, verify:

• Can be implemented in a separate session
• What is expressible in one sentence

If a Story fails these checks, split it further.

3. Identify Dependencies

For each Story, ask: "Does this require another Story to be completed first?"

• If yes, document the dependency
• If no, mark as independent

4. Create Epic Document

Create .claude/dev-workflow/epic/{name}/epic.md:

# Epic: {title}

## Overview
{What this epic achieves}

## Background
{Why this epic is needed}

## Goal
{Desired end state}

## Stories

| # | Story | Status | Dependencies |
|---|-------|--------|--------------|
| 1 | {story-name} | Not Started | - |
| 2 | {story-name} | Not Started | #1 |

## Out of Scope
{What this epic does NOT include}

## References
{Related links}

5. Suggest Next Action

Identify the first Story with no dependencies and suggest starting create-spec for it.

Success Criteria

• Why/What from kickoff is captured in Overview/Background/Goal
• Each Story can be implemented in a separate session
• Each Story's What is expressible in one sentence
• Dependencies between Stories are documented
• Next Story to start is identified (one with no dependencies)

Next Session

After epic is created:

Reference: .claude/dev-workflow/epic/{name}/epic.md Next phase: create-spec for first Story (one with no dependencies)

Read the epic file, identify the first Story to implement, and invoke kickoff or create-spec for that Story.