Scope Decomposer (Top Orchestrator)

Scope Decomposer (Top Orchestrator)

Top-level orchestrator for complete initiative decomposition from scope to User Stories through Epic and Story coordinators.

Overview

What This Skill Does

Coordinates the complete decomposition pipeline for new initiatives:

• Auto-discovers Team ID from kanban_board.md
• Phase 1: Discovery (Team ID)
• Phase 2: Epic Decomposition (delegates to ln-210-epic-coordinator)
• Phase 3: Story Decomposition Loop (delegates to ln-220-story-coordinator per Epic, sequential)
• Phase 4: Summary (total counts + next steps)

When to Use This Skill

This skill should be used when:

• Start new initiative requiring full decomposition (scope → Epics → Stories)
• Automate Epic + Story creation in single workflow
• Prefer full pipeline over manual step-by-step invocation
• Time-efficient approach for new projects (2-3 hours end-to-end)

Alternative: For granular control, invoke coordinators manually:

1. ln-210-epic-coordinator - CREATE/​REPLAN Epics
2. ln-220-story-coordinator - CREATE/​REPLAN Stories (once per Epic)

When NOT to Use

Do NOT use if:

• Initiative already has Epics → Use ln-210-epic-coordinator REPLAN mode instead
• Need to replan existing Stories → Use ln-220-story-coordinator REPLAN mode per Epic
• Only need Epic creation → Use ln-210-epic-coordinator directly
• Only need Story creation for specific Epic → Use ln-220-story-coordinator directly

---

Core Concepts

Orchestrator Pattern

ln-200-scope-decomposer is a pure coordinator - it does NOT execute work directly:

• ✅ Discovers context (Team ID)
• ✅ Makes routing decisions (which coordinator to invoke)
• ✅ Delegates all work via Skill tool (ln-210, ln-220)
• ✅ Manages workflow state (Epic creation → Story loop)
• ❌ Does NOT research project docs (ln-210 does this)
• ❌ Does NOT generate Epic/​Story documents (ln-210/​ln-220 do this)
• ❌ Does NOT create Linear issues (coordinators do this)
• ❌ Does NOT prompt user (coordinators handle all user interaction)

Coordinators:

• ln-210-epic-coordinator: Creates 3-7 Epics (Epic 0 for Infrastructure if applicable, Epic 1-N for business domains)
• ln-220-story-coordinator: Creates 5-10 Stories per Epic (with standards research via ln-001)

Sequential Story Decomposition

CRITICAL CONSTRAINT: Epic N Stories MUST complete before Epic N+1 starts.

Why sequential?

• ln-220-story-coordinator includes user interaction (Story preview confirmation)
• Interactive dialog cannot be parallelized (user must review each Epic's Stories)
• Ensures Epic N Stories are approved and created before starting Epic N+1

Example: 6 Epics → ln-220 invoked 6 times sequentially (Epic 0 → Epic 1 → Epic 2 → ... → Epic 5)

Infrastructure Epic = Epic 0

Reserved number: Epic 0 is reserved for Infrastructure Epic (if proposed by ln-210).

Numbering:

• IF Infrastructure Epic exists → Epic 0 (Infrastructure), Epic 1-N (business domains)
• ELSE → Epic 1-N (business domains only)

Decision: ln-210-epic-coordinator Phase 1 Step 3 automatically determines if Infrastructure Epic is needed (new project, multi-stack, security/​monitoring requirements).

Auto-Discovery

Team ID: Auto-discovered from docs/​tasks/​kanban_board.md Linear Configuration table (see CLAUDE.md "Configuration Auto-Discovery").

Fallback: If kanban_board.md missing → ln-210-epic-coordinator will ask user directly

---

Workflow

Phase 1: Discovery (Automated)

Auto-discovers Team ID from docs/​tasks/​kanban_board.md.

Validation:

• Team ID exists in kanban_board.md
• If missing → Skip (ln-210 will request from user)

NO user confirmation at orchestrator level - coordinators handle all user interaction.

Output: Team ID (or None if not found)

Phase 2: Epic Decomposition (Delegated)

Objective: Create all Epics for initiative.

Delegate to ln-210-epic-coordinator:

🔄 [ORCHESTRATOR] Phase 2: Delegating Epic creation to ln-210-epic-coordinator

Skill(skill: "ln-210-epic-coordinator")

ln-210-epic-coordinator will:

• Phase 1: Research project docs (requirements.md, architecture.md, tech_stack.md)
• Phase 2: Auto-propose domains + Infrastructure Epic (Epic 0) → User confirms domain list
• Phase 3: Build IDEAL Epic plan (Epic 0-N)
• Phase 5a: Auto-extract Q1-Q4 from docs → Generate ALL Epic documents → Show batch preview → User confirms → Create all Epics
• Return: Epic URLs + summary

After completion: Epics created in Linear, kanban_board.md updated.

Output: 3-7 Epics created (Epic 0 for Infrastructure if applicable, Epic 1-N for business domains)

Phase 3: Story Decomposition Loop (Sequential, Delegated)

Objective: Create Stories for EACH Epic (sequential processing).

Sequential Loop Logic:

FOR EACH Epic (Epic 0, Epic 1, ..., Epic N):
    1. Invoke ln-220-story-coordinator for current Epic
    2. Wait for completion
    3. Verify Stories created in kanban_board.md
    4. Move to next Epic

Invocation per Epic:

🔄 [ORCHESTRATOR] Phase 3: Delegating Story creation for Epic N to ln-220-story-coordinator

Skill(skill: "ln-220-story-coordinator", epic_number="Epic N")

ln-220-story-coordinator will (per Epic):

• Phase 1: Auto-extract Q1-Q6 from Epic + Fallback search (requirements.md, tech_stack.md)
• Phase 2: Research standards via ln-001-standards-researcher (auto)
• Phase 3: Build IDEAL Story plan (5-10 Stories)
• Phase 4a: Generate ALL Story documents → Show preview → User confirms → Create all Stories
• Return: Story URLs + summary

Sequential constraint explanation:

• ln-220 includes user interaction (Story preview confirmation)
• Cannot parallelize - user must review each Epic's Stories sequentially
• Epic N Stories approved → Epic N+1 Stories generated

After each Epic: Stories created in Linear, kanban_board.md updated.

Output: 30-60 Stories total (5-10 per Epic × 3-7 Epics)

TodoWrite format (mandatory): Add phases and Epic iterations to todos before starting:

- Phase 1: Discovery (in_progress)
- Phase 2: Delegate to ln-210-epic-coordinator (pending)
- Phase 3: Delegate to ln-220 for Epic 0 (pending)
- Phase 3: Delegate to ln-220 for Epic 1 (pending)
- Phase 3: Delegate to ln-220 for Epic 2 (pending)
... (one todo per Epic)
- Phase 4: Summary (pending)

Mark each as in_progress when starting, completed when coordinator returns success.

Phase 4: Summary and Next Steps

Objective: Provide complete decomposition overview.

🔄 [ORCHESTRATOR] Phase 4: Full decomposition complete

Initiative Decomposition Summary:
- Epics created: N Projects (Epic 0: Infrastructure [if exists], Epic 1-N: Business domains)
- Stories created: M Issues (breakdown per Epic)
- Location: docs/​tasks/​kanban_board.md

Next Steps:
1. Run ln-310-story-validator to validate all Stories
2. Use ln-400-story-executor to process each Story (tasks → execution → Done)
   OR use ln-300-task-coordinator to create tasks manually for each Story

Output: Summary message with full decomposition results

---

Critical Rules

1. Pure Orchestrator Pattern

Orchestrator responsibilities:

• ✅ Discovery (Team ID)
• ✅ Routing decisions (which coordinator to invoke, when)
• ✅ Sequential loop management (Epic 0 → Epic 1 → ... → Epic N)
• ✅ Summary aggregation (count Epics, Stories)

Coordinator responsibilities (NOT orchestrator):

• ❌ Research project docs → ln-210
• ❌ Auto-extract Epic/​Story info → ln-210/​ln-220
• ❌ Generate Epic/​Story documents → ln-210/​ln-220
• ❌ Create Linear issues → ln-210/​ln-220
• ❌ User interaction (confirmations) → ln-210/​ln-220

2. Sequential Story Decomposition

HARD RULE: Epic N Stories MUST complete before Epic N+1 starts.

Rationale: ln-220 includes user interaction (Story preview confirmation). Interactive dialog cannot be parallelized.

Example: 6 Epics → 6 sequential ln-220 invocations (Epic 0 → Epic 1 → ... → Epic 5)

3. No User Prompts at Orchestrator Level

Orchestrator does NOT prompt user:

• ❌ NO "Proceed with decomposition?" confirmation (redundant - coordinators already confirm)
• ❌ NO time estimates (misleading - actual time varies)
• ❌ NO Epic/​Story previews (coordinators handle this)

All user interaction delegated to coordinators:

• ln-210 Phase 2: Domain approval (USER CONTROL POINT 1)
• ln-210 Phase 5a: Epic batch preview (USER CONTROL POINT 2)
• ln-220 Phase 4a: Story preview per Epic (USER CONTROL POINT 3, N times)

4. Epic 0 for Infrastructure

Reserved number: Epic 0 is reserved for Infrastructure Epic.

Decision point: ln-210-epic-coordinator Phase 1 Step 3 automatically determines if Infrastructure Epic needed.

Numbering: Epic 0 (if Infrastructure), Epic 1-N (business domains)

---

Definition of Done

Before completing work, verify ALL checkpoints:

✅ Team ID Discovered (Phase 1):

• Team ID loaded from kanban_board.md OR skipped (ln-210 will request)

✅ Epic Decomposition Complete (Phase 2):

• Delegated to ln-210-epic-coordinator
• 3-7 Epics created (Epic 0 for Infrastructure if applicable, Epic 1-N for business domains)
• Epic URLs returned
• Epics visible in kanban_board.md

✅ Story Decomposition Complete (Phase 3):

• Delegated to ln-220-story-coordinator for EACH Epic (sequential)
• 5-10 Stories created per Epic
• Story URLs returned for each Epic
• All Stories visible in kanban_board.md (Backlog section)

✅ Summary Provided (Phase 4):

• Total counts displayed (Epics, Stories, breakdown per Epic)
• kanban_board.md location shown
• Next steps provided (validation, task creation)

Output: Summary message with full decomposition results (Epics + Stories per Epic)

---

Integration with Ecosystem

Called By

Users directly: "Decompose initiative: [initiative name]" or "Create epics and stories for [project]"

Calls (via Skill tool)

• ln-210-epic-coordinator (Phase 2) - CREATE mode (batch Epic creation with batch preview)
• ln-220-story-coordinator (Phase 3, sequential loop) - CREATE mode per Epic (Story creation with preview)

Downstream

After ln-200-scope-decomposer completes:

• ln-310-story-validator - validates all created Stories before task creation
• ln-400-story-executor - processes each Story (tasks → execution → Done)
  • OR ln-300-task-coordinator - creates tasks manually for each Story

---

Best Practices

Orchestrator Responsibilities

DO:

• ✅ Auto-discover Team ID
• ✅ Delegate to coordinators
• ✅ Manage sequential loop (Epic 0 → Epic 1 → ... → Epic N)
• ✅ Aggregate summary (count Epics, Stories)

DON'T:

• ❌ Research project docs (ln-210 does this)
• ❌ Generate documents (coordinators do this)
• ❌ Create Linear issues (coordinators do this)
• ❌ Prompt user (coordinators handle all interaction)

Coordinator Trust

Trust coordinator results: Coordinators return summary, orchestrator doesn't re-verify.

Error handling: If coordinator returns error, report to user and stop pipeline.

Sequential Processing

Epic creation first: Phase 2 creates ALL Epics before Phase 3 starts (ensures Epic IDs available).

Story creation sequential: Phase 3 processes Epics one-by-one (Epic N Stories → Epic N+1 Stories).

Rationale: User interaction in ln-220 requires sequential processing (cannot parallelize confirmations).

Time Estimates

Realistic estimate: 2-3 hours for full decomposition (6 Epics × 7 Stories avg = 42 Stories).

Breakdown:

• Phase 2 (Epic creation): 30-45 min (batch preview reduces time)
• Phase 3 (Story creation): 1.5-2 hours (6 Epics × 15-20 min per Epic)
• Phase 4 (Summary): 2 min

Do NOT provide time estimates to user - varies based on project complexity and user response time.

---

Example Usage

Request:

"Decompose initiative: E-commerce Platform"

Execution:

1. Phase 1: Discovery

   • Team ID loaded from kanban_board.md

2. Phase 2: Epic Decomposition

   • Invoke ln-210-epic-coordinator
   • ln-210 creates 6 Epics:
     • Epic 11 (Infrastructure Epic 0 pattern)
     • Epic 12-16 (business domains)
   • Output: 6 Epic URLs

3. Phase 3: Story Decomposition Loop (Sequential)

   • Epic 11: Invoke ln-220 → 6 Stories (US017-US022)
   • Epic 12: Invoke ln-220 → 7 Stories (US023-US029)
   • Epic 13: Invoke ln-220 → 5 Stories (US030-US034)
   • Epic 14: Invoke ln-220 → 6 Stories (US035-US040)
   • Epic 15: Invoke ln-220 → 7 Stories (US041-US047)
   • Epic 16: Invoke ln-220 → 5 Stories (US048-US052)
   • Output: 36 Stories total

4. Phase 4: Summary

   🔄 [ORCHESTRATOR] Full decomposition complete
   
   Initiative: E-commerce Platform
   - Epics created: 6 Projects (Epic 11: Infrastructure, Epic 12-16: Business domains)
   - Stories created: 36 Issues
     - Epic 11: 6 Stories
     - Epic 12: 7 Stories
     - Epic 13: 5 Stories
     - Epic 14: 6 Stories
     - Epic 15: 7 Stories
     - Epic 16: 5 Stories
   - Location: docs/​tasks/​kanban_board.md
   
   Next Steps:
   1. Run ln-310-story-validator to validate all Stories
   2. Use ln-400-story-executor to process each Story (tasks → execution → Done)
   

Result: 6 Epics + 36 Stories created through full pipeline automation

---

Chat Output Prefix

Use emoji prefix for visual differentiation:

• 🔄 [ORCHESTRATOR] - ln-200-scope-decomposer (top orchestrator)

Purpose: Helps users track orchestrator progress when delegating to multiple coordinators.

---

Version: 2.0.0 (BREAKING: Complete rewrite following ln-400 Pure Orchestrator Pattern. Removed Phase 1 User Confirmation. Removed false "AUTOMATIC" claims. Added Epic 0 for Infrastructure. Added Sequential Story Decomposition explanation. Added Critical Rules section. Realistic time estimates (2-3h). Removed REPLAN mode (not applicable to top orchestrator - use ln-210/​ln-220 REPLAN modes instead).) Last Updated: 2025-11-20