Paths: File paths (shared/, references/, ../ln-*) are relative to skills repo root. If not found at CWD, locate this SKILL.md directory and go up one level for repo root.

Story Coordinator

Universal Story management coordinator that delegates CREATE/REPLAN operations to specialized workers after building IDEAL Story plan.

Purpose

Coordinates Story creation (CREATE), replanning (REPLAN), and appending (ADD) for a given Epic, producing 5-10 User Stories with standards research, Decompose-First Pattern, and delegation to ln-221/ln-222 workers.

When to Use This Skill

Use when:

Decompose Epic to User Stories (5-10 Stories covering Epic scope)
Update existing Stories when Epic requirements change
Rebalance Story scopes within Epic
Add new Stories to existing Epic structure

Core Pattern: Decompose-First

Key principle: Build IDEAL Story plan FIRST, THEN check existing Stories to determine mode:

No existing Stories → CREATE MODE (delegate to ln-221-story-creator)
Has existing Stories → REPLAN MODE (delegate to ln-222-story-replanner)

Rationale: Ensures consistent Story decomposition based on current Epic requirements, independent of existing Story structure (may be outdated).

Story Numbering Convention

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/numbering_conventions.md for Story numbering rules (US001 sequential across Epics, no Story 0).

Quality Criteria

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/creation_quality_checklist.md §Story Creation Checklist for validation criteria that ln-310 will enforce.

Workflow

Phase 1: Context Assembly

Objective: Gather context for Story planning (Epic details, planning questions, frontend context, fallback docs, user input)

Step 1: Discovery (Automated)

Auto-discovers from docs/tasks/kanban_board.md:

Team ID: Reads Linear Configuration table
Epic: Parses Epic number from request → Validates in Linear → Loads Epic description
- User format: "Epic N" (Linear Project number, e.g., "Epic 7: OAuth Authentication")
- Query: get_project(query="Epic N") → Fetch full Epic document
- Extract: Goal, Scope In/Out, Success Criteria, Technical Notes (Standards Research if Epic created by ln-210 v7.0.0+)
- Note: Epic N = Linear Project number (global), NOT initiative-internal index (Epic 0-N)
Next Story Number: Reads Epic Story Counters table → Gets next sequential number

Step 2: Extract Planning Information (Automated)

Parses Epic structure for Story planning questions:

| Question | Extraction Source | |----------|-------------------| | Q1 - User/Persona | Epic Goal ("Enable [persona]...") + Scope In (user roles) | | Q2 - What they want | Epic Scope In (capabilities) + functional requirements | | Q3 - Why it matters | Epic Success Criteria (metrics) + Goal (business value) | | Q4 - Which Epic | Already from Step 1 | | Q5 - Main AC | Derive from Epic Scope In features → testable scenarios | | Q6 - Application type | Epic Technical Notes (UI/API mentioned) → Default: API |

Step 3: Frontend Research (Optional)

Trigger: If Q2 (capabilities) OR Q5 (AC) missing after Step 2

Process:

Scan HTML files: Glob **/*.html, src/**/*.html
Extract:
- Forms → AC scenarios (e.g., <form id="login"> → "Given valid credentials, When submit, Then login success")
- Buttons/Actions → capabilities (e.g., <button id="register"> → "User registration")
- Validation rules → edge case AC (e.g., minlength="8" → "Given password <8 chars, Then error")
Combine with Epic context, deduplicate, prioritize Epic AC if conflict

Fallback: If no HTML → Skip to Step 4

Step 4: Fallback Search Chain

Objective: Fill missing Q1-Q6 BEFORE asking user.

For each question with no answer from Step 2-3:

| Question | Fallback Search | |----------|-----------------| | Q1 (User/Persona) | Search requirements.md for "User personas", "Actors" → Default "User" if not found | | Q3 (Why it matters) | Search requirements.md for "Business objectives", "Goals" → Infer from Epic Success Criteria | | Q6 (Application type) | Search tech_stack.md for "Frontend", "Backend", "API" → Default "API" |

Skip: Q2, Q5 (Epic + HTML are sources of truth), Q4 (already known)

Step 5: User Input (Only if Missing)

If still missing after Step 2 + 3 + 4:

Show extracted: "From Epic: [Epic info]. From HTML: [HTML info]. From fallback: [fallback info]"
Ask user to confirm or provide remaining missing details

If all questions answered from Epic OR HTML OR fallback: Skip user prompts, proceed to Phase 2

Output: Complete context (Epic details, next Story number, Q1-Q6 answers)

Phase 2: Standards Research (Delegated)

Objective: Research industry standards/patterns BEFORE Story generation to ensure implementation follows best practices.

Why: Prevents outdated patterns or RFC violations (e.g., OAuth without PKCE).

Process:

Parse Epic for domain keywords: Extract domain from Epic goal/Scope In (authentication, rate limiting, payments)
Delegate to ln-001-standards-researcher:
- Call Skill(skill: "ln-001-standards-researcher", epic_description="[Epic full description]", story_domain="[domain]")
- Wait for Standards Research (Markdown string)
Store: Cache for Phase 5a/5b (workers insert in Story Technical Notes)

Output: Standards Research stored for ALL Stories in Epic

Skip conditions:

Epic has NO standards in Technical Notes
Story domain is trivial CRUD
Epic says "research not needed"

Time-box: 15-20 minutes (handled by ln-001)

Note: Research done ONCE per Epic, results reused for all Stories (5-10 Stories benefit from single research)

Phase 3: Planning

Objective: Build IDEAL Story plan, determine execution mode

Story Grouping Guidelines:

Each Story = ONE vertical slice of user capability (end-to-end: UI → API → Service → DB).

✅ GOOD Story Grouping (1 Story = 1 user journey):

✅ "User registration" (form → validation → API → database → email)
✅ "Password reset" (request link → verify token → set password → update DB)
✅ "Product search" (input → filter/sort → API → DB query → display)

❌ BAD Story Grouping (horizontal slices):

❌ "Create user table" (database only, no user value → Task, not Story)
❌ "User registration API endpoint" (API layer only, not vertical)
❌ "Registration UI form" (frontend only, not vertical)

Rule: 1 Story = 1 user capability (size limits per creation_quality_checklist.md #9)

Database Creation Principle (Incremental Schema Evolution):

Each Story creates ONLY the tables it needs (not all tables upfront).

✅ GOOD (Incremental):

✅ "User registration" → Creates Users table
✅ "Product search" → Creates Products table
✅ "Order checkout" → Creates Orders, Payments tables

❌ BAD (Big-Bang):

❌ "Setup database" → Creates all 50 tables (no user value, violates vertical slicing)
❌ "Database schema" → Creates Users, Products, Orders, Payments upfront

Rationale: Big-bang database setup violates incremental delivery. Each Story should deliver user value, not technical infrastructure.

Build IDEAL Plan (Automated):

Articulate REAL GOAL: MANDATORY READ: shared/references/goal_articulation_gate.md — State REAL GOAL of this Epic in one sentence (the user capability being enabled, not "create Stories"). Verify: does the decomposition serve THIS goal?
Analyze Epic Scope: Review features in Epic Scope In, identify user capabilities
Determine Story Count:
- Simple Epic (1-3 features): 3-5 Stories
- Medium Epic (4-7 features): 6-8 Stories
- Complex Epic (8+ features): 8-10 Stories
- Max 10 Stories per Epic
Story Size: Limits per creation_quality_checklist.md #9. Outside range → split or merge.

Each Story must pass these checks:

✅ Delivers user value (not purely technical)
✅ Title describes user capability, not implementation action
✅ Crosses 3+ layers (vertical slice: UI → API → Service → DB)

Build IDEAL Plan "in mind":
- Each Story: persona + capability + business value
- Each Story: testable AC per checklist #4
- Stories ordered by dependency (no forward deps per checklist #18)
- Each Story: Test Strategy section exists but is empty (tests planned later by test planner)
- Each Story: Technical Notes (architecture, integrations, Standards Research from Phase 2, guide links)
- Each Story: orchestratorBrief for ln-1000 pipeline lead:
```
orchestratorBrief: {
  tech: "<languages, frameworks, key libraries from Epic context>",
  keyFiles: "<2-5 files/dirs most affected>",
  approach: "<1-line implementation strategy>",
  complexity: "Low|Medium|High (<reason>)"
}
```
AC Quality Validation: Rules per creation_quality_checklist.md #4. Workers (ln-221, ln-222) must validate.

Examples:

❌ BAD: "User can login" (only happy path, no error/edge cases)
✅ GOOD: AC1: login success + AC2: 401 invalid password + AC3: 403 locked
❌ BAD: "Login should be fast" (vague, not measurable)
✅ GOOD: "Then receive token <200ms" (specific, measurable)

INVEST Score (0-6 per Story):

| # | Criterion | Check | +1 if PASS | |---|-----------|-------|------------| | 1 | Independent | No forward dependencies (Story N uses only 1..N-1) | ✅ | | 2 | Negotiable | AC focus on WHAT, not HOW (no library versions, no implementation details) | ✅ | | 3 | Valuable | Clear "So that [business value]" — not purely technical | ✅ | | 4 | Estimable | Size within checklist #9 range, known patterns | ✅ | | 5 | Small | 3-5 AC, 6-20 hours, vertical slice | ✅ | | 6 | Testable | AC measurable with Given/When/Then and specific values | ✅ |

Gate: Score ≥ 4 → proceed. Score < 4 → rework Story before creation.

Examples:

❌ Score 2/6: "Create user table" (fails Independent, Valuable, Small, Testable)
✅ Score 6/6: "User registration" with 4 GWT AC, 12h, full vertical slice

Output: IDEAL Story plan (5-10 Stories) with titles, statements, core AC, ordering

Phase 4: Check Existing & Detect Mode

Objective: Determine execution mode based on existing Stories AND user intent

Process:

Query Linear for existing Stories in Epic:

list_issues(project=Epic.id, label="user-story")

Mode Detection:

Analyze user request for keywords:
- ADD keywords: "add story", "one more story", "additional story", "append"
- REPLAN keywords: "update plan", "revise", "requirements changed", "replan stories"
Decision matrix:

| Condition | Mode | Delegate To | |-----------|------|-------------| | Count = 0 | CREATE | Phase 5a: ln-221-story-creator | | Count ≥ 1 AND ADD keywords | ADD | Phase 5c: ln-221-story-creator (appendMode) | | Count ≥ 1 AND REPLAN keywords | REPLAN | Phase 5b: ln-222-story-replanner | | Count ≥ 1 AND ambiguous | ASK USER | "Add new Story or revise the plan?" |

Important: Orchestrator loads metadata ONLY (ID, title, status). Workers load FULL descriptions (token efficiency).

Output: Execution mode determined + existingCount for workers

Phase 5a: Delegate CREATE (No Existing Stories)

Trigger: Epic has no Stories yet (first decomposition)

Delegation:

Call ln-221-story-creator via Skill tool:

Skill(
  skill: "ln-221-story-creator",
  epicData: {id, title, description},
  idealPlan: [ /* 5-10 Stories from Phase 3 */ ],
  standardsResearch: "Standards Research from Phase 2",
  teamId: "team-id",
  autoApprove: false  // or true for automation
)

Worker handles:

Generate Story documents (8 sections, insert Standards Research)
Validate INVEST criteria
Show preview
User confirmation (if autoApprove=false)
Create in Linear (project=Epic, labels=user-story, state=Backlog)
Update kanban_board.md (Epic Grouping Algorithm)

Output: Created Story URLs + summary from worker

Phase 5b: Delegate REPLAN (Existing Stories Found)

Trigger: Epic already has Stories (requirements changed)

Delegation:

Call ln-222-story-replanner via Skill tool:

Skill(
  skill: "ln-222-story-replanner",
  epicData: {id, title, description},
  idealPlan: [ /* 5-10 Stories from Phase 3 */ ],
  standardsResearch: "Standards Research from Phase 2",
  existingCount: N,
  teamId: "team-id",
  autoApprove: false  // or true for automation
)

Worker handles:

Load existing Stories (Progressive Loading: ONE BY ONE for token efficiency)
Compare IDEAL vs existing (KEEP/UPDATE/OBSOLETE/CREATE operations)
Show replan summary with diffs (AC, Standards Research, Technical Notes)
User confirmation (if autoApprove=false)
Execute operations (respecting status constraints: Backlog/Todo only, warnings for In Progress/Review/Done)
Update kanban_board.md (add NEW Stories only via Epic Grouping Algorithm)

Output: Operation results + warnings + affected Story URLs from worker

Phase 5c: Delegate ADD (Append to Existing Stories)

Trigger: Epic has Stories, user wants to ADD more (not replan existing)

Delegation:

Call ln-221-story-creator via Skill tool with appendMode:

Skill(
  skill: "ln-221-story-creator",
  appendMode: true,  // ADD to existing, don't replace
  epicData: {id, title, description},
  newStoryDescription: userRequestedStory,  // Single Story from user request
  standardsResearch: "Standards Research from Phase 2",
  teamId: "team-id",
  autoApprove: false
)

Key differences from CREATE MODE:

appendMode: true → Skip full IDEAL plan, create only requested Story
newStoryDescription → User's specific request (e.g., "add authorization Story")
Does NOT require Phase 3 IDEAL plan for all Stories
Preserves existing Stories without comparison

Worker handles:

Research standards for NEW Story only
Generate Story document (8 sections)
Validate INVEST criteria
Create in Linear (append to existing)
Update kanban_board.md

Output: Created Story URL + summary from worker

Phase 6: Commit

After worker completes (any mode: CREATE/REPLAN/ADD):

git add docs/tasks/kanban_board.md (updated by worker)
git commit -m "ln-220: {MODE} Stories for Epic {N}"
- CREATE: "ln-220: create Stories US{first}-US{last} for Epic {N}"
- REPLAN: "ln-220: replan Stories for Epic {N}"
- ADD: "ln-220: add Story US{num} to Epic {N}"

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

- Phase 1: Context Assembly (in_progress)
- Phase 2: Standards Research via ln-221 (pending)
- Phase 3: Build IDEAL Story Plan (pending)
- Phase 4: Check Existing Stories (pending)
- Phase 5: Delegate to ln-221/ln-222 (pending)
- Wait for worker result (pending)
- Phase 6: Commit kanban changes (pending)

Mark each as in_progress when starting, completed when done.

Critical Rules

Decompose-First: Build IDEAL Story plan before checking existing Stories (prevents anchoring to suboptimal structure)
Vertical slicing only: Each Story = one user journey end-to-end (UI -> API -> Service -> DB); no horizontal/technical-only Stories
Standards research before generation: Phase 2 (ln-001) must complete before Story documents are created; results go into all Story Technical Notes
Orchestrator loads metadata only: ID, title, status (~50 tokens per Story); workers load full descriptions (~5,000 tokens) when needed
Test Strategy section left empty: Tests are planned later by test planner, not at Story creation time

Integration with Ecosystem

Calls:

ln-001-standards-researcher (Phase 2) - research standards/patterns for Epic
ln-221-story-creator (Phase 5a, 5c) - CREATE and ADD worker
ln-222-story-replanner (Phase 5b) - REPLAN worker

Called by:

ln-200-scope-decomposer (Phase 3) - automated full decomposition (scope → Epics → Stories)
Manual - user invokes for Epic Story creation/replanning

Upstream:

ln-210-epic-coordinator - creates Epics (prerequisite for Story creation)

Downstream:

ln-300-task-coordinator - creates implementation tasks for each Story
ln-310-story-validator - validates Story structure/content
ln-400-story-executor - orchestrates task execution for Story

Definition of Done

✅ Phase 1: Context Assembly Complete:

[ ] Team ID, Epic number, Next Story Number loaded from kanban_board.md
[ ] Q1-Q6 extracted from Epic (Step 2)
[ ] Frontend Research attempted if Q2/Q5 missing (Step 3)
[ ] Fallback Search attempted for missing info (Step 4)
[ ] User input requested if still missing (Step 5)
[ ] Complete Story planning context assembled

✅ Phase 2: Standards Research Complete:

[ ] Epic parsed for domain keywords
[ ] ln-001-standards-researcher invoked with Epic description + Story domain
[ ] Standards Research cached for workers
[ ] OR Phase 2 skipped (trivial CRUD, no standards, explicit skip)

✅ Phase 3: Planning Complete:

[ ] Epic Scope analyzed
[ ] Optimal Story count determined (5-10 Stories)
[ ] IDEAL Story plan created (titles, statements, core AC, ordering)
[ ] Story Grouping Guidelines validated (vertical slicing)
[ ] INVEST checklist validated for all Stories

✅ Phase 4: Check Existing Complete:

[ ] Queried Linear for existing Stories (count only)
[ ] Execution mode determined (CREATE or REPLAN)

✅ Phase 5: Delegation Complete:

[ ] Called ln-221-story-creator (Phase 5a) OR ln-222-story-replanner (Phase 5b) via Skill tool
[ ] Passed epicData, idealPlan, standardsResearch, teamId, autoApprove
[ ] Received output from worker (Story URLs + summary + next steps)

✅ Phase 6: Commit Complete:

[ ] Kanban board changes committed with descriptive message

Example Usage

CREATE MODE (First Time):

"Create stories for Epic 7: OAuth Authentication"

Process:

Phase 1: Context Assembly → Discovery (Team "API", Epic 7, US004), Extract (Persona: API client, Value: secure API access), Frontend Research (HTML login/register forms → AC), Fallback Search (requirements.md for personas)
Phase 2: Standards Research → Epic mentions "OAuth 2.0", delegate ln-001 → Standards Research with RFC 6749, patterns
Phase 3: Planning → Build IDEAL (5 Stories: "Register client", "Request token", "Validate token", "Refresh token", "Revoke token")
Phase 4: Check Existing → Count = 0 → CREATE MODE
Phase 5a: Delegate CREATE → Call ln-221-story-creator → US004-US008 created with Standards Research

REPLAN MODE (Requirements Changed):

"Replan stories for Epic 7 - removed custom token formats, added scope management"

Process:

Phase 1: Context Assembly → Discovery (Team "API", Epic 7, has US004-US008), Extract (Removed custom formats, added scopes)
Phase 2: Standards Research → Epic mentions "OAuth 2.0 scopes", delegate ln-001 → Updated Standards Research with RFC 6749 Section 3.3
Phase 3: Planning → Build IDEAL (5 Stories: "Register client", "Request token", "Validate token", "Refresh token", "Manage scopes")
Phase 4: Check Existing → Count = 5 → REPLAN MODE
Phase 5b: Delegate REPLAN → Call ln-222-story-replanner → KEEP 4, UPDATE Technical Notes (scope research), OBSOLETE US008, CREATE US009

Reference Files

[MANDATORY] Problem-solving approach: shared/references/problem_solving.md
Orchestrator lifecycle: shared/references/orchestrator_pattern.md
Auto-discovery patterns: shared/references/auto_discovery_pattern.md
Decompose-first pattern: shared/references/decompose_first_pattern.md
Numbering conventions: shared/references/numbering_conventions.md (Story sequential across Epics)

Best Practices

Story Content:

Research-First: Always perform Phase 2 research (standards/patterns) before Story generation
- Story level: STANDARDS/PATTERNS (OAuth RFC 6749, middleware pattern)
- Task level: LIBRARIES (authlib vs oauthlib) - delegated by ln-300
Business-oriented Stories: Each Story = USER JOURNEY (what user does, what they get), NOT technical tasks
- ✅ GOOD: "As API client, I want to refresh expired token, so that I maintain session without re-authentication"
- ❌ BAD: "Create token refresh endpoint in API" (Task, not Story)
Vertical Slicing: Each Story delivers end-to-end functionality (UI → API → Service → DB)
One capability per Story: Clear, focused persona + capability + value
Testable AC: Given-When-Then, 3-5 AC, specific criteria ("<200ms" not "fast")
Test Strategy: Section exists but is empty at Story creation (tests planned later by test planner)
Standards Research: Include Phase 2 research in ALL Story Technical Notes

Story Decomposition:

Decompose-First: Build IDEAL plan before checking existing - prevents anchoring to suboptimal structure
INVEST validation: Validate every Story against INVEST criteria
Size enforcement: 3-5 AC, 6-20 hours
Avoid over-decomposition: <3 AC, <6 hours → Merge Stories

User Interaction:

Epic extraction: Try to extract all planning info from Epic in Phase 1 Step 2 before asking user
Frontend Research: HTML forms/validation → AC scenarios (Phase 1 Step 3)
Fallback search: requirements.md, tech_stack.md if Epic incomplete (Phase 1 Step 4)
Only ask user for missing info after Epic extraction AND frontend AND fallback search fail

Delegation:

Orchestrator loads metadata only: ID, title, status (~50 tokens per Story)
Workers load full descriptions: 8 sections (~5,000 tokens per Story)
Token efficiency: 10 Stories × 50 tokens = 500 tokens (orchestrator) vs 10 Stories × 5,000 tokens = 50,000 tokens (workers load when needed)

Version: 5.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-02-03

Paths: File paths (shared/, references/, ../ln-*) are relative to skills repo root. If not found at CWD, locate this SKILL.md directory and go up one level for repo root.

Story Coordinator

Universal Story management coordinator that delegates CREATE/REPLAN operations to specialized workers after building IDEAL Story plan.

Purpose

When to Use This Skill

Use when:

Decompose Epic to User Stories (5-10 Stories covering Epic scope)
Update existing Stories when Epic requirements change
Rebalance Story scopes within Epic
Add new Stories to existing Epic structure

Core Pattern: Decompose-First

Key principle: Build IDEAL Story plan FIRST, THEN check existing Stories to determine mode:

No existing Stories → CREATE MODE (delegate to ln-221-story-creator)
Has existing Stories → REPLAN MODE (delegate to ln-222-story-replanner)

Rationale: Ensures consistent Story decomposition based on current Epic requirements, independent of existing Story structure (may be outdated).

Story Numbering Convention

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/numbering_conventions.md for Story numbering rules (US001 sequential across Epics, no Story 0).

Quality Criteria

MANDATORY READ: Load shared/references/creation_quality_checklist.md §Story Creation Checklist for validation criteria that ln-310 will enforce.

Workflow

Phase 1: Context Assembly

Objective: Gather context for Story planning (Epic details, planning questions, frontend context, fallback docs, user input)

Step 1: Discovery (Automated)

Auto-discovers from docs/tasks/kanban_board.md:

Team ID: Reads Linear Configuration table
Epic: Parses Epic number from request → Validates in Linear → Loads Epic description
- User format: "Epic N" (Linear Project number, e.g., "Epic 7: OAuth Authentication")
- Query: get_project(query="Epic N") → Fetch full Epic document
- Extract: Goal, Scope In/Out, Success Criteria, Technical Notes (Standards Research if Epic created by ln-210 v7.0.0+)
- Note: Epic N = Linear Project number (global), NOT initiative-internal index (Epic 0-N)
Next Story Number: Reads Epic Story Counters table → Gets next sequential number

Step 2: Extract Planning Information (Automated)

Parses Epic structure for Story planning questions:

Step 3: Frontend Research (Optional)

Trigger: If Q2 (capabilities) OR Q5 (AC) missing after Step 2

Process:

Scan HTML files: Glob **/*.html, src/**/*.html
Extract:
- Forms → AC scenarios (e.g., <form id="login"> → "Given valid credentials, When submit, Then login success")
- Buttons/Actions → capabilities (e.g., <button id="register"> → "User registration")
- Validation rules → edge case AC (e.g., minlength="8" → "Given password <8 chars, Then error")
Combine with Epic context, deduplicate, prioritize Epic AC if conflict

Fallback: If no HTML → Skip to Step 4

Step 4: Fallback Search Chain

Objective: Fill missing Q1-Q6 BEFORE asking user.

For each question with no answer from Step 2-3:

Skip: Q2, Q5 (Epic + HTML are sources of truth), Q4 (already known)

Step 5: User Input (Only if Missing)

If still missing after Step 2 + 3 + 4:

Show extracted: "From Epic: [Epic info]. From HTML: [HTML info]. From fallback: [fallback info]"
Ask user to confirm or provide remaining missing details

If all questions answered from Epic OR HTML OR fallback: Skip user prompts, proceed to Phase 2

Output: Complete context (Epic details, next Story number, Q1-Q6 answers)

Phase 2: Standards Research (Delegated)

Objective: Research industry standards/patterns BEFORE Story generation to ensure implementation follows best practices.

Why: Prevents outdated patterns or RFC violations (e.g., OAuth without PKCE).

Process:

Parse Epic for domain keywords: Extract domain from Epic goal/Scope In (authentication, rate limiting, payments)
Delegate to ln-001-standards-researcher:
- Call Skill(skill: "ln-001-standards-researcher", epic_description="[Epic full description]", story_domain="[domain]")
- Wait for Standards Research (Markdown string)
Store: Cache for Phase 5a/5b (workers insert in Story Technical Notes)

Output: Standards Research stored for ALL Stories in Epic

Skip conditions:

Epic has NO standards in Technical Notes
Story domain is trivial CRUD
Epic says "research not needed"

Time-box: 15-20 minutes (handled by ln-001)

Note: Research done ONCE per Epic, results reused for all Stories (5-10 Stories benefit from single research)

Phase 3: Planning

Objective: Build IDEAL Story plan, determine execution mode

Story Grouping Guidelines:

Each Story = ONE vertical slice of user capability (end-to-end: UI → API → Service → DB).

✅ GOOD Story Grouping (1 Story = 1 user journey):

✅ "User registration" (form → validation → API → database → email)
✅ "Password reset" (request link → verify token → set password → update DB)
✅ "Product search" (input → filter/sort → API → DB query → display)

❌ BAD Story Grouping (horizontal slices):

❌ "Create user table" (database only, no user value → Task, not Story)
❌ "User registration API endpoint" (API layer only, not vertical)
❌ "Registration UI form" (frontend only, not vertical)

Rule: 1 Story = 1 user capability (size limits per creation_quality_checklist.md #9)

Database Creation Principle (Incremental Schema Evolution):

Each Story creates ONLY the tables it needs (not all tables upfront).

✅ GOOD (Incremental):

✅ "User registration" → Creates Users table
✅ "Product search" → Creates Products table
✅ "Order checkout" → Creates Orders, Payments tables

❌ BAD (Big-Bang):

❌ "Setup database" → Creates all 50 tables (no user value, violates vertical slicing)
❌ "Database schema" → Creates Users, Products, Orders, Payments upfront

Rationale: Big-bang database setup violates incremental delivery. Each Story should deliver user value, not technical infrastructure.

Build IDEAL Plan (Automated):

Articulate REAL GOAL: MANDATORY READ: shared/references/goal_articulation_gate.md — State REAL GOAL of this Epic in one sentence (the user capability being enabled, not "create Stories"). Verify: does the decomposition serve THIS goal?
Analyze Epic Scope: Review features in Epic Scope In, identify user capabilities
Determine Story Count:
- Simple Epic (1-3 features): 3-5 Stories
- Medium Epic (4-7 features): 6-8 Stories
- Complex Epic (8+ features): 8-10 Stories
- Max 10 Stories per Epic
Story Size: Limits per creation_quality_checklist.md #9. Outside range → split or merge.

Each Story must pass these checks:

✅ Delivers user value (not purely technical)
✅ Title describes user capability, not implementation action
✅ Crosses 3+ layers (vertical slice: UI → API → Service → DB)

Build IDEAL Plan "in mind":
- Each Story: persona + capability + business value
- Each Story: testable AC per checklist #4
- Stories ordered by dependency (no forward deps per checklist #18)
- Each Story: Test Strategy section exists but is empty (tests planned later by test planner)
- Each Story: Technical Notes (architecture, integrations, Standards Research from Phase 2, guide links)
- Each Story: orchestratorBrief for ln-1000 pipeline lead:
```
orchestratorBrief: {
  tech: "<languages, frameworks, key libraries from Epic context>",
  keyFiles: "<2-5 files/dirs most affected>",
  approach: "<1-line implementation strategy>",
  complexity: "Low|Medium|High (<reason>)"
}
```
AC Quality Validation: Rules per creation_quality_checklist.md #4. Workers (ln-221, ln-222) must validate.

Examples:

❌ BAD: "User can login" (only happy path, no error/edge cases)
✅ GOOD: AC1: login success + AC2: 401 invalid password + AC3: 403 locked
❌ BAD: "Login should be fast" (vague, not measurable)
✅ GOOD: "Then receive token <200ms" (specific, measurable)

INVEST Score (0-6 per Story):

Gate: Score ≥ 4 → proceed. Score < 4 → rework Story before creation.

Examples:

❌ Score 2/6: "Create user table" (fails Independent, Valuable, Small, Testable)
✅ Score 6/6: "User registration" with 4 GWT AC, 12h, full vertical slice

Output: IDEAL Story plan (5-10 Stories) with titles, statements, core AC, ordering

Phase 4: Check Existing & Detect Mode

Objective: Determine execution mode based on existing Stories AND user intent

Process:

Query Linear for existing Stories in Epic:

list_issues(project=Epic.id, label="user-story")

Mode Detection:

Analyze user request for keywords:
- ADD keywords: "add story", "one more story", "additional story", "append"
- REPLAN keywords: "update plan", "revise", "requirements changed", "replan stories"
Decision matrix:

Important: Orchestrator loads metadata ONLY (ID, title, status). Workers load FULL descriptions (token efficiency).

Output: Execution mode determined + existingCount for workers

Phase 5a: Delegate CREATE (No Existing Stories)

Trigger: Epic has no Stories yet (first decomposition)

Delegation:

Call ln-221-story-creator via Skill tool:

Skill(
  skill: "ln-221-story-creator",
  epicData: {id, title, description},
  idealPlan: [ /* 5-10 Stories from Phase 3 */ ],
  standardsResearch: "Standards Research from Phase 2",
  teamId: "team-id",
  autoApprove: false  // or true for automation
)

Worker handles:

Generate Story documents (8 sections, insert Standards Research)
Validate INVEST criteria
Show preview
User confirmation (if autoApprove=false)
Create in Linear (project=Epic, labels=user-story, state=Backlog)
Update kanban_board.md (Epic Grouping Algorithm)

Output: Created Story URLs + summary from worker

Phase 5b: Delegate REPLAN (Existing Stories Found)

Trigger: Epic already has Stories (requirements changed)

Delegation:

Call ln-222-story-replanner via Skill tool:

Skill(
  skill: "ln-222-story-replanner",
  epicData: {id, title, description},
  idealPlan: [ /* 5-10 Stories from Phase 3 */ ],
  standardsResearch: "Standards Research from Phase 2",
  existingCount: N,
  teamId: "team-id",
  autoApprove: false  // or true for automation
)

Worker handles:

Load existing Stories (Progressive Loading: ONE BY ONE for token efficiency)
Compare IDEAL vs existing (KEEP/UPDATE/OBSOLETE/CREATE operations)
Show replan summary with diffs (AC, Standards Research, Technical Notes)
User confirmation (if autoApprove=false)
Execute operations (respecting status constraints: Backlog/Todo only, warnings for In Progress/Review/Done)
Update kanban_board.md (add NEW Stories only via Epic Grouping Algorithm)

Output: Operation results + warnings + affected Story URLs from worker

Phase 5c: Delegate ADD (Append to Existing Stories)

Trigger: Epic has Stories, user wants to ADD more (not replan existing)

Delegation:

Call ln-221-story-creator via Skill tool with appendMode:

Skill(
  skill: "ln-221-story-creator",
  appendMode: true,  // ADD to existing, don't replace
  epicData: {id, title, description},
  newStoryDescription: userRequestedStory,  // Single Story from user request
  standardsResearch: "Standards Research from Phase 2",
  teamId: "team-id",
  autoApprove: false
)

Key differences from CREATE MODE:

appendMode: true → Skip full IDEAL plan, create only requested Story
newStoryDescription → User's specific request (e.g., "add authorization Story")
Does NOT require Phase 3 IDEAL plan for all Stories
Preserves existing Stories without comparison

Worker handles:

Research standards for NEW Story only
Generate Story document (8 sections)
Validate INVEST criteria
Create in Linear (append to existing)
Update kanban_board.md

Output: Created Story URL + summary from worker

Phase 6: Commit

After worker completes (any mode: CREATE/REPLAN/ADD):

git add docs/tasks/kanban_board.md (updated by worker)
git commit -m "ln-220: {MODE} Stories for Epic {N}"
- CREATE: "ln-220: create Stories US{first}-US{last} for Epic {N}"
- REPLAN: "ln-220: replan Stories for Epic {N}"
- ADD: "ln-220: add Story US{num} to Epic {N}"

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

- Phase 1: Context Assembly (in_progress)
- Phase 2: Standards Research via ln-221 (pending)
- Phase 3: Build IDEAL Story Plan (pending)
- Phase 4: Check Existing Stories (pending)
- Phase 5: Delegate to ln-221/ln-222 (pending)
- Wait for worker result (pending)
- Phase 6: Commit kanban changes (pending)

Mark each as in_progress when starting, completed when done.

Critical Rules

Decompose-First: Build IDEAL Story plan before checking existing Stories (prevents anchoring to suboptimal structure)
Vertical slicing only: Each Story = one user journey end-to-end (UI -> API -> Service -> DB); no horizontal/technical-only Stories
Standards research before generation: Phase 2 (ln-001) must complete before Story documents are created; results go into all Story Technical Notes
Orchestrator loads metadata only: ID, title, status (~50 tokens per Story); workers load full descriptions (~5,000 tokens) when needed
Test Strategy section left empty: Tests are planned later by test planner, not at Story creation time

Integration with Ecosystem

Calls:

ln-001-standards-researcher (Phase 2) - research standards/patterns for Epic
ln-221-story-creator (Phase 5a, 5c) - CREATE and ADD worker
ln-222-story-replanner (Phase 5b) - REPLAN worker

Called by:

ln-200-scope-decomposer (Phase 3) - automated full decomposition (scope → Epics → Stories)
Manual - user invokes for Epic Story creation/replanning

Upstream:

ln-210-epic-coordinator - creates Epics (prerequisite for Story creation)

Downstream:

ln-300-task-coordinator - creates implementation tasks for each Story
ln-310-story-validator - validates Story structure/content
ln-400-story-executor - orchestrates task execution for Story

Definition of Done

✅ Phase 1: Context Assembly Complete:

[ ] Team ID, Epic number, Next Story Number loaded from kanban_board.md
[ ] Q1-Q6 extracted from Epic (Step 2)
[ ] Frontend Research attempted if Q2/Q5 missing (Step 3)
[ ] Fallback Search attempted for missing info (Step 4)
[ ] User input requested if still missing (Step 5)
[ ] Complete Story planning context assembled

✅ Phase 2: Standards Research Complete:

[ ] Epic parsed for domain keywords
[ ] ln-001-standards-researcher invoked with Epic description + Story domain
[ ] Standards Research cached for workers
[ ] OR Phase 2 skipped (trivial CRUD, no standards, explicit skip)

✅ Phase 3: Planning Complete:

[ ] Epic Scope analyzed
[ ] Optimal Story count determined (5-10 Stories)
[ ] IDEAL Story plan created (titles, statements, core AC, ordering)
[ ] Story Grouping Guidelines validated (vertical slicing)
[ ] INVEST checklist validated for all Stories

✅ Phase 4: Check Existing Complete:

[ ] Queried Linear for existing Stories (count only)
[ ] Execution mode determined (CREATE or REPLAN)

✅ Phase 5: Delegation Complete:

[ ] Called ln-221-story-creator (Phase 5a) OR ln-222-story-replanner (Phase 5b) via Skill tool
[ ] Passed epicData, idealPlan, standardsResearch, teamId, autoApprove
[ ] Received output from worker (Story URLs + summary + next steps)

✅ Phase 6: Commit Complete:

[ ] Kanban board changes committed with descriptive message

Example Usage

CREATE MODE (First Time):

"Create stories for Epic 7: OAuth Authentication"

Process:

Phase 1: Context Assembly → Discovery (Team "API", Epic 7, US004), Extract (Persona: API client, Value: secure API access), Frontend Research (HTML login/register forms → AC), Fallback Search (requirements.md for personas)
Phase 2: Standards Research → Epic mentions "OAuth 2.0", delegate ln-001 → Standards Research with RFC 6749, patterns
Phase 3: Planning → Build IDEAL (5 Stories: "Register client", "Request token", "Validate token", "Refresh token", "Revoke token")
Phase 4: Check Existing → Count = 0 → CREATE MODE
Phase 5a: Delegate CREATE → Call ln-221-story-creator → US004-US008 created with Standards Research

REPLAN MODE (Requirements Changed):

"Replan stories for Epic 7 - removed custom token formats, added scope management"

Process:

Phase 1: Context Assembly → Discovery (Team "API", Epic 7, has US004-US008), Extract (Removed custom formats, added scopes)
Phase 2: Standards Research → Epic mentions "OAuth 2.0 scopes", delegate ln-001 → Updated Standards Research with RFC 6749 Section 3.3
Phase 3: Planning → Build IDEAL (5 Stories: "Register client", "Request token", "Validate token", "Refresh token", "Manage scopes")
Phase 4: Check Existing → Count = 5 → REPLAN MODE
Phase 5b: Delegate REPLAN → Call ln-222-story-replanner → KEEP 4, UPDATE Technical Notes (scope research), OBSOLETE US008, CREATE US009

Reference Files

[MANDATORY] Problem-solving approach: shared/references/problem_solving.md
Orchestrator lifecycle: shared/references/orchestrator_pattern.md
Auto-discovery patterns: shared/references/auto_discovery_pattern.md
Decompose-first pattern: shared/references/decompose_first_pattern.md
Numbering conventions: shared/references/numbering_conventions.md (Story sequential across Epics)

Best Practices

Story Content:

Research-First: Always perform Phase 2 research (standards/patterns) before Story generation
- Story level: STANDARDS/PATTERNS (OAuth RFC 6749, middleware pattern)
- Task level: LIBRARIES (authlib vs oauthlib) - delegated by ln-300
Business-oriented Stories: Each Story = USER JOURNEY (what user does, what they get), NOT technical tasks
- ✅ GOOD: "As API client, I want to refresh expired token, so that I maintain session without re-authentication"
- ❌ BAD: "Create token refresh endpoint in API" (Task, not Story)
Vertical Slicing: Each Story delivers end-to-end functionality (UI → API → Service → DB)
One capability per Story: Clear, focused persona + capability + value
Testable AC: Given-When-Then, 3-5 AC, specific criteria ("<200ms" not "fast")
Test Strategy: Section exists but is empty at Story creation (tests planned later by test planner)
Standards Research: Include Phase 2 research in ALL Story Technical Notes

Story Decomposition:

Decompose-First: Build IDEAL plan before checking existing - prevents anchoring to suboptimal structure
INVEST validation: Validate every Story against INVEST criteria
Size enforcement: 3-5 AC, 6-20 hours
Avoid over-decomposition: <3 AC, <6 hours → Merge Stories

User Interaction:

Epic extraction: Try to extract all planning info from Epic in Phase 1 Step 2 before asking user
Frontend Research: HTML forms/validation → AC scenarios (Phase 1 Step 3)
Fallback search: requirements.md, tech_stack.md if Epic incomplete (Phase 1 Step 4)
Only ask user for missing info after Epic extraction AND frontend AND fallback search fail

Delegation:

Orchestrator loads metadata only: ID, title, status (~50 tokens per Story)
Workers load full descriptions: 8 sections (~5,000 tokens per Story)
Token efficiency: 10 Stories × 50 tokens = 500 tokens (orchestrator) vs 10 Stories × 5,000 tokens = 50,000 tokens (workers load when needed)

Version: 5.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-02-03

Adoption

cbbkrd-tech/ln-220-story-coordinator

$ install --global

Security Scan Results

SKILL.md

Story Coordinator

Purpose

When to Use This Skill

Core Pattern: Decompose-First

Story Numbering Convention

Quality Criteria

Workflow

Phase 1: Context Assembly

Phase 2: Standards Research (Delegated)

Phase 3: Planning

Phase 4: Check Existing & Detect Mode

Phase 5a: Delegate CREATE (No Existing Stories)

Phase 5b: Delegate REPLAN (Existing Stories Found)

Phase 5c: Delegate ADD (Append to Existing Stories)

Phase 6: Commit

Critical Rules

Integration with Ecosystem

Definition of Done

Example Usage

Reference Files

Best Practices

Related Skills

cbbkrd-tech/content-strategy

cbbkrd-tech/competitor-alternatives

cbbkrd-tech/cold-email

cbbkrd-tech/churn-prevention

cbbkrd-tech/ln-220-story-coordinator

$ install --global

Security Scan Results

SKILL.md

Story Coordinator

Purpose

When to Use This Skill

Core Pattern: Decompose-First

Story Numbering Convention

Quality Criteria

Workflow

Phase 1: Context Assembly

Phase 2: Standards Research (Delegated)

Phase 3: Planning

Phase 4: Check Existing & Detect Mode

Phase 5a: Delegate CREATE (No Existing Stories)

Phase 5b: Delegate REPLAN (Existing Stories Found)

Phase 5c: Delegate ADD (Append to Existing Stories)

Phase 6: Commit

Critical Rules

Integration with Ecosystem

Definition of Done

Example Usage

Reference Files

Best Practices

Related Skills

cbbkrd-tech/content-strategy

cbbkrd-tech/competitor-alternatives

cbbkrd-tech/cold-email

cbbkrd-tech/churn-prevention