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Atomic Work Decomposition
Breaking complex work into smallest possible independent units that can be completed and validated without human intervention
Decision Rule
If a task cannot be completed within a single AI context window (~168k tokens) with clear pass/fail criteria, decompose it further until it can
How It Works
Large tasks create coordination overhead and unclear success metrics. Small atomic tasks enable parallel processing, clear progress tracking, and easier debugging when things go wrong.
Failure Modes
Tasks still too large leading to incomplete or incorrect implementation
Over-atomization creating excessive coordination overhead
Dependencies between atomic tasks not properly managed
Acceptance criteria still too vague to enable autonomous validation
Example Decision
“Instead of task 'Build user authentication', decompose to 'Add user table with email/password columns', 'Create registration endpoint with validation', 'Add login form with error handling', 'Implement session management', 'Add password reset flow'”