task-decomposition

name	task-decomposition
description	Break down complex tasks into atomic, actionable goals with clear dependencies and success criteria. Use when planning multi-step projects, coordinating agents, or decomposing complex requests. Triggers: "break down task", "decompose", "plan steps", "task breakdown".
category	agent
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"d-oit","version":"0.2.10","adapted-from":"d-o-hub/github-template-ai-agents"}

Task Decomposition

Decompose high-level objectives into manageable, testable sub-tasks.

When to Use

• Complex requests with multiple components
• Multi-phase projects requiring coordination
• Tasks benefiting from parallel execution

Framework

1. Requirements Analysis

Extract: Primary objective, implicit requirements, constraints, success criteria.

2. Goal Hierarchy

Main Goal
├─ Sub-goal 1 → Tasks 1.1, 1.2
├─ Sub-goal 2 → Task 2.1
└─ Sub-goal 3

Atomic Criteria: Single action, defined inputs/outputs, one agent, testable.

3. Dependency Mapping

• Sequential: A → B → C
• Parallel: A, B, C (independent)
• Converging: A, B, C → D

4. Success Criteria

Define: Inputs, outputs, quality standards.

Process

Step 1: Understand Goal

Request: [Original]
Goal: [Main objective]
Type: [Implementation/Debug/Refactor]
Complexity: [Simple/Medium/Complex]

Step 2: Identify Components (3-7)

Step 3: Decompose Components

Step 4: Map Dependencies

Step 5: Assign Priorities

• P0 (Critical), P1 (Important), P2 (Nice-to-have)

Step 6: Estimate Complexity

• Low (<30min), Medium (30min-2hr), High (>2hr)

Patterns

Layer-Based (Rust)

1. Data types / schemas
2. Business logic
3. API / CLI interface
4. Integration tests
5. Documentation

Feature-Based

1. Core (MVP)
2. Error handling (thiserror/anyhow)
3. Performance (benches)
4. Integration
5. Testing
6. Docs

Problem-Solution

1. Reproduce
2. Diagnose
3. Design
4. Fix
5. Verify
6. Prevent

Quality Checklist

• Atomic and actionable tasks
• Dependencies identified
• Measurable success criteria
• Appropriate complexity estimates
• No task >4 hours
• Parallelization opportunities found

Rationalizations

Rationalization	Reality
"I already know what needs to be done, no need to decompose"	Skipping decomposition leads to scope creep, missed dependencies, and rework.
"The task is too simple to break down"	Even simple tasks benefit from explicit success criteria and dependency mapping.

Red Flags

• Defining tasks that are too vague to test or verify
• Skipping dependency mapping between decomposed tasks
• Creating tasks larger than 4 hours without further breakdown