Epic/Feature Hierarchy¶

Organize requirements using Epic → Feature → Requirement hierarchy for clear traceability.

Hierarchy Structure¶

EPIC (Strategic Business Objective)
├── FEATURE (Implementation Unit)
│   ├── REQ-001 (EARS Requirement)
│   ├── REQ-002 (EARS Requirement)
│   └── BDD-001 (Gherkin Scenarios)
├── FEATURE (Implementation Unit)
│   ├── REQ-003 (EARS Requirement)
│   └── BDD-002 (Gherkin Scenarios)

Epics¶

Definition: Strategic business objective or large body of work.

Examples: - User Management System - E-Commerce Platform - Mobile Application - API Integration Layer

Commands:

/epic-create "User Management System"
/epic-status EPIC-001
/epic-generate-features EPIC-001

Features¶

Definition: Specific capability or behavior that delivers value.

Examples: - User Authentication - Shopping Cart - Payment Processing - Email Notifications

Commands:

/feature-create "User Authentication" epic:EPIC-001
/feature-status FEAT-001
/feature-generate-tasks FEAT-001

Requirements¶

Definition: EARS-formatted requirement specifying precise behavior.

Link to: Features (one requirement can belong to multiple features)

Traceability¶

Forward Traceability¶

Track from strategic goals to implementation:

EPIC-001 (Business Goal)
  → FEAT-001 (Capability)
    → REQ-001 (Requirement)
      → BDD-001 (Test Specification)
        → TASK-001 (Implementation)

Backward Traceability¶

Track from implementation back to business goals:

TASK-001 (Code) → BDD-001 → REQ-001 → FEAT-001 → EPIC-001

Real-World Example¶

EPIC-001: E-Commerce Platform
├── FEAT-001: Product Catalog
│   ├── REQ-001: Product search functionality
│   ├── REQ-002: Product filtering
│   ├── REQ-003: Product sorting
│   └── BDD-001: Product browsing scenarios
├── FEAT-002: Shopping Cart
│   ├── REQ-004: Add items to cart
│   ├── REQ-005: Remove items from cart
│   ├── REQ-006: Update quantities
│   └── BDD-002: Shopping cart scenarios
└── FEAT-003: Checkout Process
    ├── REQ-007: Payment processing
    ├── REQ-008: Order confirmation
    └── BDD-003: Checkout scenarios

Best Practices¶

✅ Epics should be strategic: Business objectives, not technical tasks ✅ Features should be independently deliverable: Each provides value alone ✅ Requirements should be atomic: One behavior per requirement ✅ Maintain links: Always connect requirements to features and epics

Benefits¶

Clear organization: Hierarchical structure is easy to understand
Impact analysis: Quickly assess effect of changes
Progress tracking: Monitor completion at epic, feature, and requirement levels
Stakeholder communication: Discuss at appropriate abstraction level

Commands¶

# View hierarchy
/hierarchy-view EPIC-001

# Generate features from epic
/epic-generate-features EPIC-001

# Generate tasks from feature
/feature-generate-tasks FEAT-001