task-decomposition

Breaking work into small, independently verifiable steps - when to decompose, vertical slices over horizontal layers, exit checks per step, ordering by risk and unknowns, commit-sized step limits, recording dependencies, tracking steps in a todo list, re-planning triggers, stop conditions, and parking discovered extra work instead of expanding scope. Load when a task touches more than about three files, has an unclear path, has several sequential steps, or feels too big to hold in one pass.