Story decomposition

SkillDev tools

Challenges and decomposes a broad product problem into ordered Valuable/Visible/Vertical stories with rough effort hypotheses. Use when the parent problem, candidate stories, or learning priority are unresolved. Writes one non-executable seed.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Story decomposition skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by nerds-odd-e/doughnut in .agents/skills/dough-story-decomposition/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Produce one human-reviewed seed containing a clear parent problem and ordered candidate stories. Do not inspect implementation, perform technical design, or write an executable plan.

Choose the workflow

Use this skill when the beneficiary, problem, desired effect, or value is unclear; a request prescribes a solution without establishing why; several outcomes or story boundaries must be chosen; or the first increment's value or learning priority is disputed.

For selected-story goal, scope, and examples, use dough-story-refinement. Hand off one understood story to the project's execution-planning workflow only when the user explicitly requests planning. A seed or backlog selection does not authorize execution.

Resolve required context

Read the user's instructions and repository guidance to identify:

  • The repository root, supplied seed or canonical seed directory, seed ID allocation and filename conventions, and stable story-anchor convention.
  • Required seed metadata and lifecycle vocabulary.
  • The project's definitions of S, M, and L effort bands.
  • The canonical backlog path, only when queueing or reprioritizing is requested.
  • The execution-planning workflow, only when that handoff is requested.

Resolve project paths from this project, not this skill's location. If context or a linked dependency needed for the current action is unavailable, name it, ask only for the missing information, and stop the affected activity before writing.

Decompose and record

Read and follow problem decomposition to establish human-owned framing decisions, challenge alternatives, and select, size, and order stories. Then use seed format to update the supplied seed or create a new seed. Leave the seed uncommitted for review unless the user explicitly requests a commit.

Report the seed path, recommended first story, rejected simpler alternative, effort distribution, and open decisions. After writing the seed, end with:

## STORY DECOMPOSITION WRITTEN

Signals

GitHub stars
49
Forks
72
Last commit
Sep 2026
Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
dough-story-decomposition
Source
github.com/nerds-odd-e/doughnut