Backlog Management Guide

Complete workflow for creating and managing a SCRUM backlog with Claude-Craft.

---

Overview

Claude-Craft provides a comprehensive set of commands for managing your product backlog following SCRUM methodology:

• 15 slash commands for backlog operations
• 5 templates for consistent structure
• Vertical slicing enforcement across all tech layers
• INVEST model validation for User Stories

Philosophy

Based on:

• Agile Manifesto principles
• 12 Agile Principles
• SCRUM fundamentals
• Vertical slicing (every US touches all layers)

---

Initial Backlog Generation

From Specifications

Place your project specifications in ./docs/ then run:

/project:generate-backlog symfony+flutter

Generated Structure

project-management/
├── README.md                    # Project overview
├── personas.md                  # User personas (min. 3)
├── definition-of-done.md        # Progressive DoD levels
├── dependencies-matrix.md       # Epic and US dependencies
├── backlog/
│   ├── epics/                   # EPIC-XXX-name.md files
│   └── user-stories/            # US-XXX-name.md files
└── sprints/
    └── sprint-XXX-goal/         # Sprint plans

---

SCRUM Structure

Personas

Minimum 3 personas required, each with:

• Identity: Name, role, demographics
• Goals: What they want to achieve
• Frustrations: Pain points to solve

Format: P-001, P-002, P-003...

EPICs

Large features containing multiple User Stories:

Field	Description
ID	Unique identifier (EPIC-001, EPIC-002...)
MMF	Minimum Marketable Feature
Status	Draft, Ready, In Progress, Done
Business Objectives	Why this EPIC matters
Success Criteria	How to measure success

User Stories

Follow the INVEST model:

Letter	Meaning	Validation
I	Independent	No dependencies on other US
N	Negotiable	Details can be discussed
V	Valuable	Delivers user value
E	Estimable	Can be sized in points
S	Sized	Max 8 story points
T	Testable	Has clear acceptance criteria

The 3 Cs

1. Card: Brief description
2. Conversation: Discussion details
3. Confirmation: Acceptance criteria

Acceptance Criteria (Gherkin)

Each US requires:

• 1 nominal scenario (happy path)
• 2 alternative scenarios
• 2 error scenarios

Scenario: User logs in successfully
  Given a registered user with valid credentials
  When they submit the login form
  Then they should see their dashboard
  And a session should be created

Tasks

Technical work items within a User Story:

Type	Description	Typical Duration
[DB]	Database (entities, migrations)	1-3h
[BE]	Backend (services, APIs)	2-4h
[FE-WEB]	Frontend Web (controllers, templates)	2-4h
[FE-MOB]	Frontend Mobile (screens, blocs)	3-5h
[TEST]	Testing (unit, integration, E2E)	2-4h
[DOC]	Documentation	0.5-1h
[OPS]	DevOps (CI/CD, deployment)	1-2h
[REV]	Code review	1-2h

Estimation rules:

• Task duration: 0.5h - 8h max
• Story points (Fibonacci): 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21
• Max US size: 8 points (split if larger)

---

Workflow

Status Flow

┌─────────┐     ┌─────────────┐     ┌──────┐
│  To Do  │ ──→ │ In Progress │ ──→ │ Done │
└─────────┘     └─────────────┘     └──────┘
     │                │
     │                ↓
     └────────→ ┌─────────┐
                │ Blocked │
                └─────────┘
                     │
                     ↓
              ┌─────────────┐
              │ In Progress │
              └─────────────┘

Forbidden transitions:

• To Do → Done (must go through In Progress)
• Any → To Do (except manual reopen)

---

Commands Reference

Creation Commands

Command	Description
/project:generate-backlog [stack]	Generate complete backlog from specs
/project:add-epic	Create a new EPIC
/project:add-story	Add a User Story to an EPIC
/project:add-task	Create a technical task for a US

Viewing Commands

Command	Description
/project:list-epics	Display all EPICs with status
/project:list-stories [filter]	List User Stories (by EPIC, Sprint, Status)
/project:list-tasks [filter]	List tasks (by US, Sprint, Type, Status)
/project:board [sprint]	Show Kanban board
/sprint:status [sprint]	Detailed sprint progress report

Update Commands

Command	Description
/sprint:transition [id] [status/sprint]	Change US status or assign to sprint
/project:move-task [id] [status]	Change task status
/project:update-epic [id]	Modify an existing EPIC
/project:update-story [id]	Modify an existing User Story

Advanced Commands

Command	Description
/project:decompose-tasks [sprint]	Break down sprint US into tasks
/gate:validate-backlog	Audit backlog quality (SCRUM compliance)

---

Complete Example: New Project

Step 1: Generate Initial Backlog

# Ensure specs are in ./docs/
/project:generate-backlog symfony+flutter

Step 2: Validate Quality

/gate:validate-backlog

This generates scrum-validation-report.md with:

• INVEST compliance score
• 3 Cs verification
• SMART criteria analysis
• Estimation consistency

Step 3: Review Sprint 1

/project:board 1

Displays Kanban board with columns:

• To Do | In Progress | In Review | Done | Blocked

Step 4: Decompose into Tasks

/project:decompose-tasks 1

Creates detailed task breakdown:

• Tasks grouped by US
• Dependency graph (Mermaid)
• Time estimates per layer

Step 5: Start Working

# Move first task to in progress
/project:move-task TASK-001 in-progress

# Later, mark as done
/project:move-task TASK-001 done

# If blocked
/project:move-task TASK-002 blocked "Waiting for API specs"

Step 6: Track Progress

/sprint:status 1

Step 7: Set Up Recurring Monitoring (Optional)

Use /loop (v2.1.71+) to automatically monitor sprint progress:

# Check sprint status every 30 minutes
/loop 30m /sprint:status 1

# Run pre-commit checks every 5 minutes during development
/loop 5m /common:pre-commit-check

Alias: /proactive (v2.1.105+).

Shows:

• Overall progress and burndown
• Metrics by User Story
• Blockers and risks
• Recommended actions

---

Templates

Claude-Craft provides 5 templates for consistent backlog structure:

Template	Purpose
epic.md	EPIC file structure with metadata, objectives, US list
user-story.md	US structure with Gherkin criteria, tasks table
task.md	Task structure with DoD checklist
board.md	Kanban board with metrics calculation
index.md	Backlog index with global summary

---

SCRUM Rules Enforced

Rule	Value
Sprint duration	2 weeks (fixed)
Velocity	20-40 points/sprint
Max US size	8 points (split if larger)
Estimation scale	Fibonacci (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21)
Task duration	0.5h - 8h max

Sprint 1: Walking Skeleton

The first sprint must include:

• Complete infrastructure setup
• 1 end-to-end feature (not just setup)
• Testable on both Web and Mobile

Vertical Slicing

Every User Story MUST traverse all layers:

UI (Web/Mobile) → API → Business Logic → Database

No "Backend only", "Frontend only", or "Mobile only" User Stories allowed.

---

Checklist: Backlog Ready

• [ ] Minimum 3 personas defined
• [ ] EPICs have MMF and success criteria
• [ ] User Stories follow INVEST model
• [ ] Acceptance criteria in Gherkin format
• [ ] Stories estimated in Fibonacci points
• [ ] Sprint 1 = Walking Skeleton
• [ ] Definition of Done documented
• [ ] Backlog validated (/gate:validate-backlog)

---

← Troubleshooting | Next: Setup New Project →