backlog-review

name	backlog-review
version	3.0.1
description	Execute comprehensive backlog review. Analyzes story quality, Definition of Ready compliance, dependencies, zombie stories, and generates a backlog health report.
trigger	manual
depends-on	[]
references	[]
disable-model-invocation	true
user-invocable	true
allowed-tools	Read, Glob, Grep

---

backlog-review

Execute comprehensive backlog review:

1. Load Current State

Read these files:

• @docs/reference/BACKLOG_INDEX.md (backlog overview)
• docs/reference/backlog/E##-name.md (epic files as needed)
• @docs/reference/PRD_SUMMARY.md (requirements overview, if exists)
• @docs/progress.md (completed work)

2. Theme Coverage Analysis

Map each epic to requirements:

| Epic | Requirements Covered | Coverage % | Gap Analysis |

Priority Validation

• Are high-priority items truly high-value?
• Are dependencies properly ordered?
• Any blocked items that should be deprioritized?

Scope Assessment

• Stories that exceed original scope
• Features creeping in without justification
• Non-goals being violated

3. Story Quality Scan

For each non-done story, validate against the Definition of Ready checklist:

Criterion	Check
Title clear and specific	Describes the change, not the problem
Type assigned	One of: feature, bugfix, refactor, spike, infra, testing, docs, security, performance, skill
Size classified	TRIVIAL, SMALL, STANDARD, LARGE, or XL. Flag for splitting only when the story spans unrelated topics — file count is not a threshold. See the cohesion test in ideate/references/story-template.md
Cohesion test passed	Splitting the story would create artificial seams, not two meaningful pieces
3-7 acceptance criteria	Each testable and specific; LARGE/XL may exceed 3-7, grouped under sub-headings. No "should be fast" or "handle errors properly"
Verification commands	Exact commands that prove completion
Out of scope defined	At least one explicit exclusion
Affected files listed	Proportionate to size, not capped at a fixed number
Pattern references	"Follow patterns in [file]" where applicable
Dependencies resolved	No unresolved blockers
No ambiguous language	No vague terms, all criteria measurable