work-decomposition git:20260507.56f011dA

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name: work-decomposition
description: Decompose goals into MEOWs (Molecular Expressions of Work) - trackable atomic units following Gas Town's bead-based work model.
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  domains: [domain:software-engineering]

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# Work Decomposition

## Overview

Break high-level goals into MEOWs (Molecular Expressions of Work) - the fundamental atomic units in Gas Town. Each MEOW becomes a bead (git-backed work unit) or wisp (ephemeral task).

## When to Use

- Before creating a convoy
- 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)