Breakdown Epic Arch skill: turn an Epic PRD into an architecture spec

Makes your AI assistant turn an Epic PRD into a high-level technical architecture spec with a diagram.

Installs: 9K; on skills.sh
Stars: 40.7K; on GitHub
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

breakdown-epic-arch has your assistant act as a Senior Software Architect and read an Epic PRD. It writes an Epic Architecture Specification with a Mermaid system diagram, a list of features and technical enablers, the technology stack, a technical value rating and a t-shirt size. The prompt assumes a fixed stack: domain-driven design, Docker, TypeScript with Next.js, Turborepo, tRPC and Stack Auth. You supply the PRD, and the skill bundles no scripts.

Good for

Architects and tech leads who start from a written Epic PRD
Teams building on TypeScript, Next.js, tRPC and Turborepo, the stack the prompt assumes
Product and engineering leads who want a size estimate and technical value rating per epic

Install breakdown-epic-arch

Claude Code

1
Download the skill folder from https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot/tree/HEAD/skills/breakdown-epic-arch.
2
Put it at ~/.claude/skills/breakdown-epic-arch/ so that SKILL.md sits directly inside.
3
Start a new session; the skill loads when its description matches the task.

Built from the package data we hold. Not yet tested by us.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Prompt for creating the high-level technical architecture for an Epic, based on a Product Requirements Document.

Sections in SKILL.md

Goal
Context Considerations
Output Format
Specification Structure
Context Template

Key facts

Author: Awesome Copilot Community (author field of the project-planning plugin)
Repo: github/awesome-copilot
License: MIT
Installs on skills.sh: 8,965 as of 2026-11-02
GitHub stars: 40,666 for the whole github/awesome-copilot repo, 2026-11-02
Last repo commit: 2026-10-30
What is inside: 1 file, SKILL.md; it bundles no scripts
Part of: The project-planning plugin (8 skills, 7 agents)
Needs: An Epic PRD in markdown to work from
Output: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/arch.md

What it includes

A short summary of the technical approach
The first section of arch.md. It summarizes how the epic will be built.
Write · Epic Architecture Overview
A Mermaid diagram with five layers
Shows the user, application, service, data and infrastructure layers. It names Stack Auth, tRPC, n8n, PostgreSQL, Qdrant, Redis and Docker, and covers synchronous and asynchronous flows.
Write · System Architecture Diagram
Features to build plus the services and libraries behind them
Two lists: the features, and the technical enablers such as new services, libraries or infrastructure.
Write · High-Level Features & Technical Enablers
Key technologies, frameworks and libraries
A list of what the epic will use.
Write · Technology Stack
High, Medium or Low with a short reason
A rating of the technical value with a brief justification.
Write · Technical Value
S, M, L or XL for the whole epic
A high-level size estimate. The skill says not to write code in the output unless it is pseudocode.
Try: “Use breakdown-epic-arch on docs/epics/billing/prd.md and save the spec under docs/ways-of-work/plan/billing/arch.md.”
Write · T-Shirt Size Estimate

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

The skill alone writes one markdown file. The Copilot CLI plugin route adds agents that can edit files, run commands and create GitHub issues, so use the single-skill install unless you want them.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

The plugin route adds 7 agents with edit and issue tools
The project-planning plugin lists 7 agents. The prd agent lists create_issue, update_issue and add_issue_comment among its tools, and task-planner and task-researcher list runCommands and edit tools. Install only the skill if you want none of that. github.com
The skill bundles no scripts
The folder holds only SKILL.md. github.com

Technical details

Turning on read-only	No read-only mode. The skill is built to save a file.
Scopes	Writes one markdown file at /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/arch.md Reads the Epic PRD you provide

Questions

What does breakdown-epic-arch do?

It takes an Epic PRD and writes a high-level architecture spec: a Mermaid diagram, features and technical enablers, the stack, a technical value rating and a t-shirt size. It saves the result to /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/arch.md.

How do I install it?

Use the install box at the top. For Claude Code, put the skill folder in ~/.claude/skills/ or .claude/skills/. For Claude on the web or desktop, zip the folder and upload it under Customize, then Skills.

What do I need to give it?

The Epic PRD as markdown. The SKILL.md ends with a context template that has one slot, the content of the Epic PRD file.

Does it only work for Next.js projects?

The prompt lists a fixed stack: TypeScript with Next.js (App Router), Turborepo, tRPC, Stack Auth, Docker and domain-driven design. If your stack differs, tell the assistant, or edit the skill text.

Is it safe?

The skill bundles no scripts and writes one markdown file. The Copilot CLI plugin route adds 7 agents with edit, command and issue tools, so install only the skill if you do not want those. See the permissions section.

Which plugin includes it?

The project-planning plugin in awesome-copilot lists it with 7 other skills, including breakdown-epic-pm and breakdown-feature-prd. This SKILL.md does not name them. The plugin installs with Copilot CLI.

Does it need an API key?

The skill names no key and bundles no scripts.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: github/awesome-copilot
Folder: skills/breakdown-epic-arch

github/awesome-copilot skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 6

breakdown-epic-arch SKILL.md · github.com
awesome-copilot README, Install a Plugin · github.com
project-planning plugin.json · github.com
prd agent · github.com
task-planner agent · github.com
task-researcher agent · github.com