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Epic Subtask Generator

Example prompt: "When I create a new epic in Jira with the label 'needs-breakdown', read the description and break it into subtasks with time estimates and acceptance criteria. Create the subtasks in Jira and post a summary to #planning on Slack."

How to automate epic breakdown with GloriaMundo

The Problem

Breaking a large epic or user story into well-defined subtasks is one of the most valuable things a project manager or tech lead does, but it is also one of the most time-consuming. A properly decomposed epic needs subtasks with clear descriptions, realistic time estimates, and acceptance criteria — and each one takes 5-10 minutes to think through and write up. For a typical epic with 6-10 subtasks, that is an hour of focused planning work. Teams that skip this step end up with vague stories, inaccurate sprint estimates, and developers who interpret requirements differently. Teams that do it properly spend significant time on what is essentially structured thinking — exactly the kind of work AI does well.

How GloriaMundo Solves It

We build a workflow that triggers when a new epic is created with a specific label in Jira. An integration step reads the epic's title, description, and any linked documents. An LLM step analyses the scope and breaks it into concrete subtasks — each with a clear title, description, time estimate, and acceptance criteria based on the information available. A code step validates that the estimates are consistent and the total adds up sensibly. The workflow then creates each subtask in Jira under the parent epic and posts a summary to Slack for the team to review. Glass Box preview shows you every proposed subtask before any are created, so you can adjust the breakdown before it hits the board.

Example Workflow Steps

  1. Trigger (integration): Fires when a new Jira issue with type "Epic" is created with the label "needs-breakdown".
  2. Step 1 (integration): Read the epic's title, description, acceptance criteria, and any linked documents or comments from Jira.
  3. Step 2 (llm): Analyse the epic scope and generate a list of subtasks, each with a title, description, time estimate in hours, and acceptance criteria.
  4. Step 3 (code): Validate the subtask list — check that estimates are within reasonable ranges, the total aligns with the epic's overall estimate if one exists, and no subtask is too vague.
  5. Step 4 (integration): Create each subtask in Jira as a child of the original epic, with the generated title, description, estimate, and acceptance criteria.
  6. Step 5 (integration): Post a summary to #planning on Slack listing all created subtasks with their estimates and a link to the epic.

Integrations Used

  • Jira — source of the epic details and destination for the generated subtasks
  • Slack — notifies the team with a summary of the breakdown for review and discussion

Who This Is For

Tech leads, engineering managers, and product owners who regularly create epics and need to decompose them into sprint-ready stories. Particularly useful for teams practising agile where the quality of task breakdown directly affects sprint planning accuracy and developer productivity.

Time & Cost Saved

Manually breaking down an epic into 6-10 well-defined subtasks takes 45-90 minutes. For a team that creates 3-5 new epics per sprint, that is 3-8 hours of planning work every two weeks. This workflow produces a solid first draft in minutes. The PM or tech lead still reviews and adjusts — the AI handles the structured decomposition, not the strategic decisions — but the review typically takes 10-15 minutes instead of building from scratch. Over a year of fortnightly sprints, that saves 50-150 hours of planning time.