Iteration: Stories & Tasks

Prepare work for development sprints — break epics into stories, refine acceptance criteria, and create implementation tasks.

Iteration happens per epic. You take a feature-level epic and break it into sprint-ready work items: user stories with acceptance criteria and implementation tasks.

Step 5: Break Down User Stories

Slice an epic into vertical user stories that each deliver end-to-end value.


Skill (recommended)	`/pair-process-plan-stories`
How-to guide	07 — How to Break Down User Stories
Input	Epic issue from your PM tool
Output	Issues in your PM tool (type: story) validated against INVEST criteria

The AI applies vertical slicing — each story delivers a thin slice of functionality from UI to database, rather than a horizontal layer. Stories are validated against the INVEST framework:

Independent — can be developed without waiting for other stories
Negotiable — details are open for discussion
Valuable — delivers something useful to the user
Estimable — small enough to estimate confidently
Small — fits in a single sprint
Testable — has clear pass/fail criteria

Step 6: Refine a User Story

Transform a rough story into a development-ready specification.


Skill (recommended)	`/pair-process-refine-story`
How-to guide	08 — How to Refine a User Story
Input	Story issue (status: Todo)
Output	Story updated with acceptance criteria, technical analysis, and sizing (status: Refined)

Refinement adds three things to a story:

Acceptance Criteria (Given-When-Then)

Given the user is on the login page
When they enter valid credentials and click "Sign in"
Then they are redirected to the dashboard
And their session is active for 24 hours

Every AC is testable — either it passes or it doesn't.

Technical Analysis

Implementation approach (files to create/modify)
Integration points (APIs, services, databases)
Technical risks and mitigations
Dependencies on other stories or external systems

Story Sizing

Story points using the team's estimation methodology. The AI proposes a size based on complexity and the team validates.

Step 7: Create Tasks

Break a refined story into concrete implementation tasks.


Skill (recommended)	`/pair-process-plan-tasks`
How-to guide	09 — How to Create Tasks
Input	Refined story issue
Output	Task Breakdown section appended to the story body

Tasks are documented inline in the story body — not as separate issues. Each task includes:

Implementation approach and files to touch
Acceptance criteria mapped to the parent story's AC
Dependency graph showing task ordering
TDD approach (for development tasks)

Task Types

Type	Approach	Example
Development	TDD: write test → implement → refactor	"Implement login API endpoint"
Documentation	Direct implementation	"Write API documentation"
Configuration	Follow infrastructure guidelines	"Configure CI pipeline"

AC Coverage Table

Every acceptance criterion maps to at least one task:

| AC   | Tasks   |
| AC-1 | T-1     |
| AC-2 | T-2     |
| AC-3 | T-2, T-3|

No orphan ACs, no orphan tasks.

What You Have After Iteration

PM Tool:
├── Epic 1: Authentication & Registration
│   ├── Story: User can register with email (Refined, 3 pts)
│   │   ├── T-1: Registration API endpoint
│   │   ├── T-2: Registration form UI
│   │   ├── T-3: Email verification flow
│   │   └── T-4: E2E tests
│   ├── Story: User can log in (Refined, 2 pts)
│   │   ├── T-1: Login API endpoint
│   │   ├── T-2: Login form UI
│   │   └── T-3: Session management
│   └── Story: User can reset password (Refined, 3 pts)
│       └── ...

Every story is development-ready: clear AC, technical approach, sized, with tasks.

Execution — implement stories and review code.