git:20260507.8dfdcb4 to git:20260507.9f5be95

---

name: work-decomposition

description: Decompose goals into MEOWs (Molecular Expressions of Work) - trackable atomic units following Gas Town's bead-based work model.

allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob, WebFetch, WebSearch, Agent, AskUserQuestion

graph:

domains: [domain:software-engineering]

skillAreas: [skill-area:agentic-loops, skill-area:orchestration-loop]

workflows: [workflow:feature-development]

topics: [topic:developer-experience]

roles: [role:tech-lead, role:backend-engineer]

- When a goal is too large for a single agent

- When parallel execution would benefit progress

- When work needs tracked attribution

## Process

1. **Analyze** the goal and project context

2. **Identify** natural seams for decomposition

3. **Create MEOWs** with clear boundaries and dependencies

4. **Classify** as beads (persistent) or wisps (ephemeral)

5. **Map dependencies** between MEOWs

6. **Estimate** effort and assign priorities

## Decomposition Principles

- Each MEOW should be completable by a single agent

- Dependencies should form a DAG (no cycles)

- Prefer more smaller beads over fewer larger ones

- Wisps for throwaway work (scaffolding, exploration)

- Every MEOW gets attribution tracking

## Tool Use

Invoke via babysitter process: `methodologies/gastown/gastown-orchestrator` (analyze-work step)