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Stage 5: Sprint Planning
Overview
Sprint Planning organizes decomposed work items into actionable sprints. This stage covers backlog triage, work discovery, priority assignment, and sprint scoping using tracker-agnostic backlog management tools.
When You Enter This Stage
You enter Sprint Planning after completing Stage 4: Decomposition with work items created and ready for prioritization.
NOTE
Prerequisites: Work items exist in GitHub Issues or ADO. Repository has labels and milestones configured for sprint tracking.
Available Tools
| Tool | Type | How to Invoke | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| backlog-manager | Agent | Select backlog-manager agent | Manage the backlog end-to-end across ADO, GitHub, and Jira |
| backlog-plan discover | Skill | /backlog-plan discover | Find candidate work items for sprint planning, read-only |
| backlog-plan triage | Skill | /backlog-plan triage | Classify and label unprocessed items, read-only |
| backlog-plan sprint | Skill | /backlog-plan sprint | Create a sprint plan from backlog priorities, read-only |
| backlog-execute run | Skill | /backlog-execute run | Apply a reviewed handoff to the tracker |
| backlog-execute add | Skill | /backlog-execute add | Add a single new item to the backlog |
| backlog-management | Skill | Auto-loaded by the Backlog Manager | Supplies backlog planning, triage, and story quality conventions |
Role-Specific Guidance
TPMs lead Sprint Planning, balancing priorities across the backlog and coordinating with Tech Leads on technical sequencing. Tech Leads contribute capacity estimates and identify dependency chains.
Starter Prompts
Issue Discovery
Survey the backlog for candidate work. Discovery is read-only and writes an analysis file you review before continuing:
/backlog-plan discover
The workflow resolves your tracker, runs its preflight, and asks which discovery path fits. Supply search terms such as authentication and a target iteration such as v2.4.0 when prompted, or point it at a requirements document such as docs/architecture/prd-notifications.md.
Backlog Triage
Classify untriaged items with label suggestions, iteration assignment, and duplicate detection:
/backlog-plan triage
Triage is read-only. It writes a triage plan with its recommendations, and a separate execution pass applies them.
Sprint Planning
Build a prioritized sprint plan from a target iteration with capacity constraints and a sprint goal:
/backlog-plan sprint
Backlog Execution
Dry-run a reviewed handoff to preview item operations before committing changes:
/backlog-execute run --dry-run
When the preview matches your intent, apply it:
/backlog-execute run
Create a single new item conversationally, using repository templates where they exist:
/backlog-execute add
User Story Coaching
Select backlog-manager agent to create a new story from a rough idea. The agent applies the story quality guidance in the backlog-management skill's story-quality reference:
I need a story for adding webhook notifications when deployment status changes. The platform team needs real-time alerts in their monitoring dashboard.
Select backlog-manager agent to refine a vague existing story:
Help me refine this story: Title: Improve error handling, Description: Handle errors better, AC: Errors are handled
Full Backlog Orchestration
Select backlog-manager agent to coordinate triage and sprint planning end-to-end:
Prepare the v2.4.0 milestone for sprint planning. Triage any needs-triage issues first, then build a prioritized sprint plan with a 15-issue capacity.
Stage Outputs and Next Stage
Sprint Planning produces a scoped sprint with prioritized issues, assigned owners, and milestone targets. Transition to Stage 6: Implementation when the sprint is planned and work items are assigned.
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