# To Tickets
Break a plan, spec, or conversation into a set of **tickets**: , each declaring the tickets that **block** it.
The issue tracker and triage label vocabulary should have been provided to you. If not, tell the user to run `/setup-matt-pocock-skills`.
## Process
### 1. Gather context
Work from whatever is already in the conversation context. If the user passes a reference (a spec path, an issue number or URL) as an argument, fetch it and read its .
### 2. Explore the codebase (optional)
If you have not already explored the codebase, do so to understand the . Ticket titles and descriptions should use the project's , and respect ADRs in the area you're touching.
Look for opportunities to to make the implementation easier. "Make the change easy, then make the easy change."
### 3. Draft vertical slices
Break the work into **tracer bullet** tickets.
<vertical-slice-rules>
- Each slice cuts a through every layer (schema, API, UI, tests): vertical, NOT a horizontal slice of one layer
- A completed slice is
- Each slice is sized to fit in a
- Any prefactoring should be done first
</vertical-slice-rules>
Give each ticket its ****: the other tickets that must complete before it can start. A ticket with no blockers can start immediately.
**Wide refactors are the exception to vertical slicing.** A **wide refactor** is one mechanical change (rename a column, retype a shared symbol) whose **** fans across the whole codebase, so a single edit breaks thousands of call sites at once and no vertical slice can land green. Don't force it into a tracer bullet; sequence it as ****. First expand: add the new form beside the old so nothing breaks. Then migrate the call sites over in batches sized by (per package, per directory), each batch its own ticket blocked by the expand, keeping CI green batch to batch because the old form still exists. Finally contract: delete the old form once no caller remains, in a ticket blocked by every migrate batch. When even the batches can't stay green alone, keep the sequence but let them share an integration branch that all block a final integrate-and-verify ticket; green is promised only there.
### 4. Quiz the user
Present the proposed breakdown as a numbered list. For each ticket, show:
- **Title**: short descriptive name
- **Blocked by**: which other tickets (if any) must complete first
- **What it delivers**: the end-to-end behaviour this ticket makes work
Ask the user:
- Does the granularity feel right? (too coarse / too fine)
- Are the correct: does each ticket only depend on tickets that ?
- Should any tickets be merged or split further?
Iterate until the user approves the breakdown.
### 5. Publish the tickets to the configured tracker
Publish the approved tickets. **How** depends on the tracker `/setup-matt-pocock-skills` configured; the tickets are the same either way, only the shape of the changes:
- **Local files** → write one file per ticket under `.scratch/<feature-slug>/issues/<NN>-<slug>.md`, numbered from `01` in (blockers first). Each file's "Blocked by" lists the numbers/titles it depends on. Use the per-ticket file template below: one ticket per file, never a single combined file.
- **A real issue tracker (GitHub, Linear, …)** → publish one issue per ticket in (blockers first) so each ticket's can reference real identifiers. Use the platform's native blocking / sub-issue relationship where it has one; otherwise set each ticket's "Blocked by" to the blocking issues. Apply the `ready-for-agent` triage label unless instructed otherwise; the tickets are agent-grabbable by construction.
Work the **frontier**: any ticket whose blockers are all done. For a purely linear chain that means top to bottom.
Do NOT close or modify any parent issue.
<local-ticket-template>
# <NN>: <Ticket title>
**What to build:** the end-to-end behaviour this ticket makes work, from the user's perspective, not a layer-by-layer implementation list.
**Blocked by:** the numbers/titles of the tickets that gate this one, or "None (can start immediately)".
**Status:** ready-for-agent
- [ ] Acceptance criterion 1
- [ ] Acceptance criterion 2
</local-ticket-template>
<issue-template>
## Parent
A reference to the parent issue on the tracker (if the source was an existing issue, otherwise omit this section).
## What to build
The end-to-end behaviour this ticket makes work, from the user's perspective, not layer-by-layer implementation.
## Acceptance criteria
- [ ] Criterion 1
- [ ] Criterion 2
## Blocked by
- A reference to each blocking ticket, or "None (can start immediately)".
</issue-template>
In either form, avoid specific file paths or code snippets: they go stale fast. Exception: if a prototype produced a snippet that encodes a decision more precisely than prose can (state machine, reducer, schema, type shape), inline it and note briefly that it came from a prototype. Trim to the , not a working demo, just the important bits.