| name | to-issues |
| description | Slice a feature into tracer-bullet vertical-slice GitHub issues via gh — each slice cuts every layer and is demoable alone, published in dependency order so Blocked by refs resolve, labeled for the agent loop. Works from a PRD issue, a .md spec, or the current discussion. Use for "/to-issues", "break the PRD into issues", "slice this". |
| argument-hint | [PRD issue number/URL, or .md file path; empty = current discussion] |
| model | inherit |
| effort | xhigh |
| allowed-tools | Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, AskUserQuestion |
Break a feature into tracer-bullet vertical slices and file each as a GitHub issue.
Backend is GitHub Issues via gh.
Input mode (by $ARGUMENTS shape)
- Number / URL → PRD mode: the arg is a PRD issue —
gh issue view <#> --json body,
read-only, never modify it. Understand the whole before you cut it.
.md path → file mode: read and slice that spec.- Empty → discussion mode: slice the shared understanding already in context. If it's
too thin to slice (no
/grill-me ran, nothing concrete), stop and tell me to run
/grill-me first — don't invent slices.
- Inline prose → reject: tell me to pass a
.md file or run /grill-me, then stop.
File + discussion are "no-PRD" — no grounding doc, so they also do steps 1–2. PRD mode
trusts the PRD and starts at step 3.
Steps
- (no-PRD) Ground in the repo — learn the modules, patterns, and seams slices should reuse
instead of reinventing. Learn the shape; don't dump files.
- (no-PRD) Map the testing seam up front (
AskUserQuestion): the highest sensible level
to prove this behavior (e2e > integration > unit — through the outermost stable interface).
Decide it before cutting, so it shapes the slices.
- Propose tracer-bullet slices. Each cuts all layers (e.g. UI → API → data) and is
demoable on its own — not "build the schema," but "user can do X end-to-end, minimally."
Prefer many thin AFK-able slices over a few fat ones. Per slice: its dependencies
(which slices land first) and whether it needs a human (a design call, a secret, an
external account, a judgement) → mark it HITL.
- Name each slice's central mechanism — its piece of the PRD's central mechanism (step 3
of
/to-prd): the load-bearing behavior the slice exists to prove. A tracer is allowed to
be thin, but it must build that mechanism real, never a mock of it — a mock of the
central mechanism makes the slice's acceptance criterion vacuous (see
anti-mock-drift). Pure-logic slices that touch no
external system have none — pure logic.
- Mark the gate slice. The final slice that exercises the whole central mechanism
end-to-end is the e2e-gate — usually also HITL. It must not ship until all deferred
mock-debt is paid (the orchestrator enforces this).
- Quiz me until approved (
AskUserQuestion): granularity, slice boundaries, dependency
edges, HITL marks. Iterate until I approve. Create no issue before approval.
- Publish in dependency order — blocker slices first, so their real
#N exist when you
write a dependent's ## Blocked by. Each body uses this template verbatim:
## What to build
<the slice, at the behavior level>
## Central mechanism
<the real interface/behavior this slice must exercise — OR — none - pure logic>
## Acceptance criteria
- [ ] <demoable, checkable outcome>
## Blocked by
<bare #N refs, one per line — OR — None - can start immediately>
Ensure labels exist (ignore "already exists"):
gh label create ready-for-agent 2>/dev/null || true,
gh label create hitl 2>/dev/null || true,
gh label create e2e-gate --description "final slice; ships only when mock-debt is zero" 2>/dev/null || true, and
gh label create mock-debt --description "central mechanism mocked; wire it real" 2>/dev/null || true.
Label every slice ready-for-agent; also add hitl to slices that need a human
(/orchestrate skips hitl), and e2e-gate to the final whole-feature end-to-end slice
(the orchestrator holds it not-ready until every open mock-debt issue is closed). Create with
a temp body file:
gh issue create --title "<title>" --label ready-for-agent [--label hitl] [--label e2e-gate] --body-file <tmp>.
PRD mode only: also put Part of #<prd> in each slice body, without touching the PRD.
No-PRD modes have no parent — omit it.
- (no-PRD) File the testing-seam issue last — a minimal issue stating the step-2 seam (what
to test, at what level) for me to set up myself. It's the e2e-gate: labels
ready-for-agent,
hitl, and e2e-gate; its ## Blocked by lists every functional slice, so it surfaces
only after the feature is built — and the orchestrator additionally holds it until mock-debt is zero.
- Report a table: slice
# → title → Blocked by → labels. Then confirm every #N in a
Blocked by resolves to a real issue you created — no dangling refs.
