| name | work-breakdown-structure |
| description | Guide for decomposing projects into Epics, Stories, Features, and Tasks. Use when planning features or capturing work in MCP tools. |
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
Hierarchy
| Level |
Purpose |
Example |
| Epic |
Major objective |
"User Authentication System" |
| Story |
User-facing capability |
"Users can register and login" |
| Feature |
Technical component |
"JWT token management" |
| Task |
Atomic unit (1-4 hrs) |
"Create JWT signing service" |
ID Convention
Epic: E-[n] → E-1
Story: E-[n]/S-[n] → E-1/S-1
Feature: E-[n]/S-[n]/F-[n] → E-1/S-1/F-1
Task: E-[n]/S-[n]/F-[n]/T-[n] → E-1/S-1/F-1/T-1
Minimum Decomposition by SDLC
| Tier |
Epics |
Stories |
Features |
Tasks |
| Small |
1 |
2+ |
3+ |
5+ |
| Medium |
2 |
4+ |
8+ |
15+ |
| Large |
3 |
8+ |
15+ |
30+ |
| Enterprise |
5 |
15+ |
30+ |
60+ |
MCP Task Format
Pattern: [TYPE] Title | Refs: doc#section | AC: Acceptance criteria
# Epic
mcp__gaia__update_task("E-1", "[EPIC] Auth System | Refs: security.md | AC: All auth flows work", "pending", "Architect")
# Story
mcp__gaia__update_task("E-1/S-1", "[STORY] User login | Refs: api.md#auth | AC: Login/logout E2E", "pending", "Builder")
# Feature
mcp__gaia__update_task("E-1/S-1/F-1", "[FEATURE] JWT tokens | Refs: security.md#jwt | AC: Token refresh works", "pending", "Builder")
# Task
mcp__gaia__update_task("E-1/S-1/F-1/T-1", "[TASK] JWT service | Refs: security.md#jwt | AC: Valid JWTs generated", "pending", "Builder")
Rules
- Every item MUST reference design docs
- Every item MUST have testable acceptance criteria
- Tasks should be 1-4 hours (exceptions: research, debugging)
- NEVER create TODO.md or markdown task files - use MCP only