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Writing40k · #5043

breakdown-plan

Helps your agent create comprehensive project plans. It details tasks, dependencies, and priorities, and helps track progress automatically.

What it does

This tool helps organize software projects. It creates a detailed plan that breaks down work into smaller parts, like 'epics' (large goals), 'features' (what the user sees), and 'stories' (specific tasks).

When to use it

  • ✓When starting a new software project.
  • ✓When a project needs to be broken down into smaller tasks.
  • ✓To organize work in development teams.

Example of what to ask your AI

“Create a project plan for the user login feature, breaking it down into epics, features, and stories.”

Want more? Open the sections below.

How to use

The easiest way: copy the message below and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI. It reads the skill and follows the instructions.

Skill link

https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/main/skills/breakdown-plan/SKILL.md

Ready-to-paste message

Use this skill to help me: https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/blob/main/skills/breakdown-plan/SKILL.md Read the SKILL.md file at that link and follow its instructions for my task.
How it works

The tool analyzes project documents (like requirements and design) and generates a structured plan. It also suggests how to create tasks in GitHub, linking them and setting priorities.

Installation

Easiest way: copy the skill link and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor asking it to follow the instructions.

In the terminal (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor), in your project folder:

npx skills add github/awesome-copilot --skill breakdown-plan

Or download just the file:

curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/github/awesome-copilot/main/skills/breakdown-plan/SKILL.md -o SKILL.md
Technical content (original SKILL.md)

Original text by the author, straight from GitHub.

GitHub Issue Planning & Project Automation Prompt

Goal

Act as a senior Project Manager and DevOps specialist with expertise in Agile methodology and GitHub project management. Your task is to take the complete set of feature artifacts (PRD, UX design, technical breakdown, testing plan) and generate a comprehensive GitHub project plan with automated issue creation, dependency linking, priority assignment, and Kanban-style tracking.

GitHub Project Management Best Practices

Agile Work Item Hierarchy

  • Epic: Large business capability spanning multiple features (milestone level)
  • Feature: Deliverable user-facing functionality within an epic
  • Story: User-focused requirement that delivers value independently
  • Enabler: Technical infrastructure or architectural work supporting stories
  • Test: Quality assurance work for validating stories and enablers
  • Task: Implementation-level work breakdown for stories/enablers

Project Management Principles

  • INVEST Criteria: Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable
  • Definition of Ready: Clear acceptance criteria before work begins
  • Definition of Done: Quality gates and completion criteria
  • Dependency Management: Clear blocking relationships and critical path identification
  • Value-Based Prioritization: Business value vs. effort matrix for decision making

Input Requirements

Before using this prompt, ensure you have the complete testing workflow artifacts:

Core Feature Documents

  1. Feature PRD: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}.md
  2. Technical Breakdown: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}/technical-breakdown.md
  3. Implementation Plan: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}/implementation-plan.md

Related Planning Prompts

  • Test Planning: Use plan-test prompt for comprehensive test strategy, quality assurance planning, and test issue creation
  • Architecture Planning: Use plan-epic-arch prompt for system architecture and technical design
  • Feature Planning: Use plan-feature-prd prompt for detailed feature requirements and specifications

Output Format

Create two primary deliverables:

  1. Project Plan: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}/project-plan.md
  2. Issue Creation Checklist: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}/issues-checklist.md

Project Plan Structure

1. Project Overview

  • Feature Summary: Brief description and business value
  • Success Criteria: Measurable outcomes and KPIs
  • Key Milestones: Breakdown of major deliverables without timelines
  • Risk Assessment: Potential blockers and mitigation strategies

2. Work Item Hierarchy

graph TD
    A[Epic: {Epic Name}] --> B[Feature: {Feature Name}]
    B --> C[Story 1: {User Story}]
    B --> D[Story 2: {User Story}]
    B --> E[Enabler 1: {Technical Work}]
    B --> F[Enabler 2: {Infrastructure}]

    C --> G[Task: Frontend Implementation]
    C --> H[Task: API Integration]
    C --> I[Test: E2E Scenarios]

    D --> J[Task: Component Development]
    D --> K[Task: State Management]
    D --> L[Test: Unit Tests]

    E --> M[Task: Database Schema]
    E --> N[Task: Migration Scripts]

    F --> O[Task: CI/CD Pipeline]
    F --> P[Task: Monitoring Setup]

3. GitHub Issues Breakdown

Epic Issue Template
# Epic: {Epic Name}

## Epic Description

{Epic summary from PRD}

## Business Value

- **Primary Goal**: {Main business objective}
- **Success Metrics**: {KPIs and measurable outcomes}
- **User Impact**: {How users will benefit}

## Epic Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] {High-level requirement 1}
- [ ] {High-level requirement 2}
- [ ] {High-level requirement 3}

## Features in this Epic

- [ ] #{feature-issue-number} - {Feature Name}

## Definition of Done

- [ ] All feature stories completed
- [ ] End-to-end testing passed
- [ ] Performance benchmarks met
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] User acceptance testing completed

## Labels

`epic`, `{priority-level}`, `{value-tier}`

## Milestone

{Release version/date}

## Estimate

{Epic-level t-shirt size: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL}
Feature Issue Template
# Feature: {Feature Name}

## Feature Description

{Feature summary from PRD}

## User Stories in this Feature

- [ ] #{story-issue-number} - {User Story Title}
- [ ] #{story-issue-number} - {User Story Title}


…
FAQ

What is an 'Epic'?

An Epic is a large goal or functionality that can be broken down into several smaller parts.

What are 'Stories'?

Stories are smaller, user-focused tasks that deliver value and are easy to test.

How does this help manage projects?

It helps visualize all the work, understand task dependencies, and ensure everything is done in an organized and efficient manner.

Details

Original description by the author

Issue Planning and Automation prompt that generates comprehensive project plans with Epic > Feature > Story/Enabler > Test hierarchy, dependencies, priorities, and automated tracking.

repo: github/awesome-copilot

Popularity

GitHub stars
40k
Ranking position
#5043
License
MIT
Updated
10/15/2026

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