Epic - Epic Manager

VerifiedSafe

This skill creates and manages Epics—collections of related issues grouped by major feature areas. It sets up the directory structure with epic.md, progress.md, and references/ folders, and provides templates for tracking issues and sprint progress. Use it when starting a new project, organizing work into themes, or adding reference documents to an epic.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
ProductivityBeginner
2/28/2026
Claude CodeCursorCodex
#epic-management#issue-tracking#project-planning#spec-driven#markdown

Recommended for

Automated summary

Creates and maintains Epics — Markdown folders that bundle the issues belonging to a major feature area, along with a sprint progress log and a folder of reference documents.

Strengths

  • Enforced directory layout (epic.md, progress.md, references/) that keeps epics consistent across a project
  • Clear separation between the overview (epic.md), the sprint log (progress.md), and design/reference material
  • A 'Related Issues' status table that tracks completion issue by issue
  • Includes a git commit step right after the epic is created

Limitations

  • No tooling or automation: everything depends on manually editing the Markdown files
  • No integration with a real tracker (GitHub Issues, Jira), so tracking data risks being duplicated
  • Assumes a parallel specs/issues/ convention that this skill never defines, and the progress log drifts quickly if not maintained
When to use it

Use it when kicking off a large feature area or project that needs related issues grouped under a theme together with their design references.

When not to use it

Avoid it for one-off changes or when the team already tracks work in GitHub Issues or Jira, since mirroring that in Markdown creates two diverging sources of truth.

Security analysis

Safe
Quality score85/100

The skill only provides benign project-management file structures plus scoped mkdir, git add, and git commit examples. It contains no destructive commands, secret handling, network calls, obfuscation, or safety-disabling instructions.

No concerns found

How this analysis is made

Examples

Create a new epic
Create a new epic called 'cli' for the command-line interface work, and add our design document as a reference.
Start a project epic
Start an epic for the website revamp project and list the first three issue tasks as pending in the Related Issues table.
Log a session
Update progress.md for the cli epic with today's session, and mark task02-cli-parsing as completed in epic.md.

name: epic description: Create and manage Epics - collections of related issues for major feature areas. Use when starting a new project(big feature), organizing work into themes, or adding reference documents.

Epic - Epic Manager

Create and manage Epics for organizing related issues.

Directory Structure

project/
└── specs/
    ├── epics/
    │   ├── cli/
    │   │   ├── epic.md                   # Epic overview and issue references
    │   │   ├── progress.md               # Sprint progress tracking
    │   │   └── references/               # Reference documents
    │   │       └── Design.md
    │   └── website/
    │       ├── epic.md
    │       ├── progress.md
    │       └── references/
    └── issues/
        └── ...

What is an Epic?

An Epic is a collection of related issues grouped by major feature area or project.

Components:

  • epic.md - Overview, goals, and issue references
  • progress.md - Sprint progress tracking log
  • references/ - Design docs, specs, requirements

When to Use

  • User says "create epic", "new epic", "start project"
  • Starting a new major feature area
  • Organizing related issues under a theme
  • Adding reference documents to an epic

Creating an Epic

Step 1: Create Epic Structure

mkdir -p specs/epics/epic-name/references

Step 2: Create epic.md

# [Epic Title]

Brief description of what this epic encompasses.

## Overview

High-level goals and scope of this epic.

## Key Features

1. Feature area 1
2. Feature area 2
3. Feature area 3

## Related Issues

| Issue | Title | Status |
|-------|-------|--------|
| task01-xxx | Description | pending |
| task02-xxx | Description | pending |

## Progress

See [progress.md](progress.md) for sprint tracking.

## References

- [Design.md](references/Design.md) - Main design specification

Step 3: Create progress.md

# [Epic Name] Progress

## Current Status
Brief status description.

## In Progress
- [ ] issue-id - Description

## Completed Sprints

### [Sprint Name]
- [x] issue-id - Description

#### [YYYY-MM-DD] Session #N
- Working on: issue-id
- Completed: F001, F002
- Notes:
  - What was done
  - Decisions made

Step 4: Add Reference Documents

Copy or create reference documents in specs/epics/epic-name/references/:

  • Design specifications
  • Architecture diagrams
  • API documentation
  • Requirements documents

Step 5: Git Commit

git add specs/epics/epic-name/
git commit -m "feat: create epic-name epic"

Updating an Epic

Adding Issues to Epic

Update the "Related Issues" table in epic.md:

| Issue | Title | Status |
|-------|-------|--------|
| task01-xxx | Description | completed |
| task02-xxx | Description | in-progress |
| task03-xxx | New issue | pending |

Updating Progress

Add session entries to progress.md:

#### [YYYY-MM-DD] Session #N
- Working on: issue-id
- Completed: F001, F002, F003
- Commits: abc123
- Notes:
  - Brief description of work done

Adding References

Copy new reference documents to references/ and update epic.md:

## References

- [Design.md](references/Design.md) - Main design specification
- [API.md](references/API.md) - API documentation

Rules

  • Each Epic MUST have epic.md and progress.md
  • Update issue status in epic.md when issues complete
  • Log all sessions in progress.md
  • Keep references organized and up-to-date

From the file to a first result

The download contains exactly the content displayed on this page. This copy may differ from the latest version in the source repository.

View the source and supporting files

This download contains SKILL.md only. Any scripts, references, templates and dependencies are not included. Get the required files from the source, preserving their directory structure, before continuing.

1. Download the file

Download SKILL.md

From the root of a test project, save the file as .skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md, or use the command below. This folder is for inspecting the skill before installation.

Command for macOS/Linux or WSL: requires a POSIX shell and curl. On Windows without WSL, use the download button and create the folder manually.

mkdir -p '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea' && curl --fail --show-error --location 'https://skills-guides.com/api/skills/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/download' --output '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md.part' && mv '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md.part' '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md'

2. Check prerequisites

Read SKILL.md before using it. If it references scripts or external services, inspect them and prepare the required access in your test environment.

No recognized prerequisites section in this file. This does not mean it is self-contained: libraries, tools and access requirements may be mentioned elsewhere in the content or source repository.

The platforms on this page are catalog indications. The paths below follow tool documentation; they do not prove this skill has been run in those tools. No minimum tool version is confirmed for this listing.

3. Load the skill

After inspection, copy the complete folder into your project using one of the commands below, then open a new tool session. The command stops if a folder with the same name already exists: compare the files before replacing it.

Claude Code
test -f '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.claude/skills' && test ! -e '.claude/skills/epic' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea' '.claude/skills/epic'

Cursor
test -f '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.cursor/skills' && test ! -e '.cursor/skills/epic' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea' '.cursor/skills/epic'

Codex
test -f '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md' && test -s '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md' && mkdir -p '.agents/skills' && test ! -e '.agents/skills/epic' && cp -R '.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea' '.agents/skills/epic'

OpenSkills

OpenSkills must already be installed. The local install/read procedure is checked with OpenSkills 1.5.0, which requires Node.js ≥ 20.6.0. Catalog slugs are not resolved automatically.

Official OpenSkills installation
openskills install './.skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea'

openskills read 'epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea'

Reading should display the installed file content and its base directory. It does not run the skill or install its dependencies.

For an agent that reads AGENTS.md, then sync the index. This command changes AGENTS.md: review the diff before using it.

openskills sync

Manual method or another tool: attach SKILL.md to a conversation, or open it in an agent that can read files. Include any required supporting resources. No universal folder is recognized by every tool.

4. Try a first task

Use a short, synthetic input: an API endpoint, a small document or an interface brief. In a new conversation, attach the file or give the agent its path, then adapt this request:

Read .skill-downloads/epic-epic-manager-mm5t89ea/SKILL.md and apply its instructions to this example: [describe a test input]. Identify any missing files, dependencies or access. Produce the result requested by the skill without inventing data or running unreviewed scripts.

Expected result: output matching the skill instructions, or a precise list of missing prerequisites. A read confirmation alone does not validate a first use. If an external resource is unavailable, that path remains untested.

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