home / skills / bacoco / bmad-skills / bmad-story-planning
This skill transforms epics and architecture decisions into developer-ready story packages with acceptance criteria and dependencies.
npx playbooks add skill bacoco/bmad-skills --skill bmad-story-planningReview the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.
---
name: bmad-story-planning
description: Breaks epics into developer stories.
allowed-tools: ["Read", "Write", "Grep"]
metadata:
auto-invoke: true
triggers:
patterns:
- "break into stories"
- "create user stories"
- "story breakdown"
- "developer tasks"
keywords:
- story
- stories
- epic
- breakdown
- task
- backlog
- sprint
capabilities:
- story-breakdown
- epic-splitting
- task-definition
- backlog-creation
prerequisites:
- product-requirements-document
- architecture-decisions
outputs:
- user-stories
- story-files
- acceptance-criteria
---
# Delivery Planning Skill
## When to Invoke
**Automatically activate when user:**
- Says "Break into stories", "Create user stories"
- Asks "Developer tasks?", "Story breakdown?"
- Mentions "stories", "backlog", "sprint planning"
- Epics and architecture ready (Phase 4)
- Uses words like: story, stories, backlog, sprint, breakdown, tasks
**Specific trigger phrases:**
- "Break this into stories"
- "Create user stories"
- "Story breakdown for [epic]"
- "Developer-ready tasks"
- "Backlog planning"
- "Sprint stories"
**Prerequisites:**
- Epics exist (from bmad-product-planning)
- Architecture defined
**Do NOT invoke when:**
- No epics yet (use bmad-product-planning first)
- Stories already exist (use bmad-development-execution)
- Simple task that doesn't need story structure
## Mission
Transform epics and architecture decisions into developer-ready story packages, including acceptance criteria, dependencies, and delivery signals.
## Inputs Required
- epics: latest epics.md from product-requirements skill
- architecture: decision architecture outputs and guardrails
- ux_assets: annotated wireframes or UX notes when relevant
- sprint_status: current delivery cadence and capacity information
## Outputs
- Story markdown files created using `assets/story-template.md.template`
- Updated backlog summary highlighting sequencing, dependencies, and blockers
- Recommendations for next stories to activate for development-execution
## Process
1. Confirm readiness by running `CHECKLIST.md` and ensuring prerequisite artifacts exist.
2. Prioritize epics/stories based on value, dependencies, and risk.
3. Draft or update story files, capturing acceptance criteria, prerequisites, and test hooks.
4. Use `scripts/create_story.py` when structured JSON is provided; otherwise author manually with template guidance.
5. Document sprint updates and communicate next-step recommendations to orchestrator and stakeholders.
## Quality Gates
`CHECKLIST.md` must pass before handing off stories. Every story must align with architecture decisions and cite upstream references.
## Error Handling
If prerequisites are missing or conflicting:
- Identify the missing artifact or decision and why it blocks story creation.
- Route back to the responsible skill (architecture, UX, product-requirements) for clarification.
- Suggest alternative backlog items only when ready stories already exist.
This skill transforms high-level epics and architecture decisions into developer-ready stories with clear acceptance criteria, dependencies, and delivery signals. It prepares markdown story files, updates the backlog summary, and recommends the next items to activate for development. The goal is to deliver actionable, prioritized story packages that align with architecture and sprint constraints.
The skill checks prerequisite artifacts and runs a readiness checklist before drafting stories. It prioritizes epics by value, dependencies, and risk, then creates or updates story markdown using a template or a script when structured JSON is available. Each story includes acceptance criteria, prerequisites, test hooks, and citations to upstream requirements and architecture decisions.
What prerequisites are required before invoking this skill?
You need defined epics, architecture decisions, and any relevant UX assets. If those are missing, the skill will identify what blocks story creation.
How are dependencies and blockers handled?
The skill documents dependencies and blockers in the backlog summary and routes missing artifacts or conflicts back to the responsible owner for resolution.