Feature Board Management

Purpose

AI Agents follow this skill to manage the feature board (x-ipe-docs/planning/features.md) - the central tracking system for all feature-level work.

Two Usage Modes:

•
Category-Level Skill (Step 4 of task execution)
- •Called automatically for feature-stage tasks
- •Updates feature status based on task completion
- •Returns category_level_change_summary
•
Query Interface (Called by other skills)
- •Provides Feature Data Model for feature-stage tasks
- •Allows feature creation/updates during breakdown
- •Enables data retrieval for implementation

Important Notes

Skill Prerequisite

•This skill is called automatically by task-execution-guideline for feature-stage tasks
•Other skills can call this skill directly for queries and updates

Important: If Agent DO NOT have skill capability, can directly go to skills/ folder to learn skills. And SKILL.md file is the entry point to understand each skill.

Feature Board Structure

Location: x-ipe-docs/planning/features.md

Content Sections:

•Overview and status definitions
•Feature Tracking Table (primary view)
•Status Details (grouped by status)
•Feature Details (expanded information)

Feature Data Model

Core structure used throughout the system:

yaml

Feature:
  # Core identification
  feature_id: FEATURE-XXX
  title: <Feature Title>
  version: v1.0
  
  # Status tracking  
  status: Planned | Refined | Designed | Implemented | Tested | Completed
  description: <Brief description, ≤100 words>
  
  # Dependencies
  dependencies: [FEATURE-XXX, ...]  # List of feature IDs
  
  # Artifact links
  specification_link: x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-XXX/specification.md | null
  technical_design_link: x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-XXX/technical-design.md | null
  
  # Metadata
  created: MM-DD-YYYY
  last_updated: MM-DD-YYYY HH:MM:SS
  
  # Task tracking
  tasks:
    - task_id: TASK-XXX
      task_type: <Task Type>
      status: <Status>
      completed_at: <Timestamp> | null

Feature Status Lifecycle

code

Planned → Refined → Designed → Implemented → Tested → Completed
   ↓         ↓          ↓           ↓           ↓          ↓
Created   Feature   Technical    Code       Human     Feature
 (Auto)   Refine     Design     Implement  Playground  Closing
          + Test Gen

Status Definitions:

Status	Description	Triggered By
Planned	Feature identified, awaiting refinement	Feature Breakdown (auto)
Refined	Specification complete, ready for design	Feature Refinement task completion
Designed	Technical design complete, ready for implementation	Technical Design task completion (Test Generation keeps Designed)
Implemented	Code complete, ready for closing	Code Implementation task completion
Completed	Feature fully deployed and verified	Feature Closing task completion

Operations

Operation 1: Create or Update Features

When to use: During feature breakdown or initial feature setup

Input:

yaml

operation: create_or_update_features
features:
  - feature_id: FEATURE-001
    title: User Authentication
    version: v1.0
    description: JWT-based user authentication with login, logout, and token refresh
    dependencies: []
  - feature_id: FEATURE-002
    title: User Profile
    version: v1.0
    description: User profile management and settings
    dependencies: [FEATURE-001]

Execution:

code

1. Create x-ipe-docs/planning/features.md if not exists (use template)
2. FOR EACH feature in features:
   IF feature_id exists on board:
     → Update feature information (title, version, description, dependencies)
     → Keep existing status and links
   ELSE:
     → Add new feature to tracking table
     → Set status = "Planned"
     → Set created = today's date
   → Set last_updated = current timestamp
3. Update status details sections
4. Update feature details sections

Output:

yaml

success: true
features_added: [FEATURE-001, FEATURE-002]
features_updated: [FEATURE-003]
board_path: x-ipe-docs/planning/features.md
message: "Created 2 features, updated 1 feature on feature board"

Operation 2: Query Feature

When to use: Feature-stage tasks need full Feature Data Model

Input:

yaml

operation: query_feature
feature_id: FEATURE-001

Execution:

code

1. Read x-ipe-docs/planning/features.md
2. Find feature with matching feature_id
3. Extract all feature information
4. Build Feature Data Model

Output (Feature Data Model):

yaml

feature_id: FEATURE-001
title: User Authentication
version: v1.0
status: Designed
description: JWT-based user authentication with login, logout, and token refresh
dependencies: []
specification_link: x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-001/specification.md
technical_design_link: x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-001/technical-design.md
created: 01-15-2026
last_updated: 01-17-2026 14:30:00
tasks:
  - task_id: TASK-015
    task_type: Feature Refinement
    status: completed
    completed_at: 01-16-2026 10:15:00
  - task_id: TASK-023
    task_type: Technical Design
    status: completed
    completed_at: 01-17-2026 14:30:00

Error Handling:

yaml

# If feature not found
success: false
error: "Feature not found"
feature_id: FEATURE-001
message: "FEATURE-001 does not exist on the feature board"

Operation 3: Update Feature Status (Category-Level)

When to use: Automatically during Step 4 (Category Closing) for feature-stage tasks

Input (from Task Data Model):

yaml

task_id: TASK-023
task_type: Technical Design
category: feature-stage
status: completed
feature_id: FEATURE-001
feature_phase: Technical Design

Status Update Logic Based on feature_phase:

feature_phase	New Status	Specification Link Update	Technical Design Link Update
`Feature Refinement`	Refined	Set from task_output_links	-
`Technical Design`	Designed	-	Set from task_output_links
`Test Generation`	Designed	-	-
`Code Implementation`	Implemented	-	-
`Feature Closing`	Completed	-	-

Execution:

code

1. Read x-ipe-docs/planning/features.md
2. Find feature with feature_id
3. Update status based on feature_phase (see table above)
4. Update artifact links from task_output_links if applicable
5. Add task to feature's task list
6. Update last_updated timestamp
7. Move feature in status details sections
8. Update feature details section

Output:

yaml

success: true
feature_id: FEATURE-001
old_status: Refined
new_status: Designed
category_level_change_summary: "Updated FEATURE-001 (User Authentication) status from Refined to Designed, added technical design link"

Category-Level Execution (Step 4)

Called By: task-execution-guideline during Step 4 (Category Closing)

Input: Full Task Data Model

Required Attributes in Task Data Model:

•feature_id - Which feature to update
•feature_phase - What phase was just completed
•task_output_links - Artifacts to link
•status - Task status (must be completed)

Process:

code

1. Validate Task Data Model has feature_id and feature_phase
2. Call Operation 3: Update Feature Status
3. Return category_level_change_summary

Example:

yaml

# Input Task Data Model
task_id: TASK-023
task_type: Technical Design
category: feature-stage
status: completed
feature_id: FEATURE-001
feature_title: User Authentication
feature_version: v1.0
feature_phase: Technical Design
task_output_links: [x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-001/technical-design.md]

# Output
category_level_change_summary: "Updated FEATURE-001 (User Authentication) status from Refined to Designed, added technical design link"

Feature Board Template Structure

File: x-ipe-docs/planning/features.md

markdown

# Feature Board

> Last Updated: MM-DD-YYYY HH:MM:SS

## Overview

This board tracks all features across the project lifecycle.

**Status Definitions:**
- **Planned** - Feature identified, awaiting refinement
- **Refined** - Specification complete, ready for design
- **Designed** - Technical design complete, ready for implementation
- **Implemented** - Code complete, ready for testing
- **Tested** - Tests complete, ready for deployment
- **Completed** - Feature fully deployed and verified

---

## Feature Tracking

| Feature ID | Feature Title | Version | Status | Specification Link | Created | Last Updated |
|------------|---------------|---------|--------|-------------------|---------|--------------|
| FEATURE-001 | User Authentication | v1.0 | Designed | [spec](FEATURE-001/specification.md) | 01-15-2026 | 01-17-2026 |

---

## Status Details

### Planned (0)
- None

### Refined (0)
- None

### Designed (1)
- FEATURE-001: User Authentication

### Implemented (0)
- None

### Tested (0)
- None

### Completed (0)
- None

---

## Feature Details

### FEATURE-001: User Authentication
- **Version:** v1.0
- **Status:** Designed
- **Description:** JWT-based user authentication with login, logout, and token refresh
- **Dependencies:** None
- **Specification:** [x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-001/specification.md](FEATURE-001/specification.md)
- **Technical Design:** [x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-001/technical-design.md](FEATURE-001/technical-design.md)
- **Tasks:**
  - TASK-015 (Feature Refinement) - Completed on 01-16-2026
  - TASK-023 (Technical Design) - Completed on 01-17-2026

---

Integration Examples

Example 1: Feature Breakdown Creates Features

yaml

# Feature Breakdown skill calls:
operation: create_or_update_features
features:
  - feature_id: FEATURE-001
    title: User Authentication
    version: v1.0
    description: JWT-based authentication
    dependencies: []
  - feature_id: FEATURE-002
    title: User Profile
    version: v1.0
    description: Profile management
    dependencies: [FEATURE-001]

# Result:
# - Board created if not exists
# - Two features added with status "Planned"

Example 2: Feature Refinement Task Queries Feature

yaml

# Feature Refinement skill calls:
operation: query_feature
feature_id: FEATURE-001

# Receives full Feature Data Model:
feature_id: FEATURE-001
title: User Authentication
version: v1.0
status: Planned
description: JWT-based authentication
dependencies: []
# ... etc

Example 3: Category Closing Updates Status

yaml

# After Feature Refinement task completes:
# Task Data Model has:
feature_id: FEATURE-001
feature_phase: refinement
task_output_links: [x-ipe-docs/requirements/FEATURE-001/specification.md]

# Category skill (Step 4) calls Update Feature Status:
# - Status changes: Planned → Refined
# - Specification link added
# - Returns: "Updated FEATURE-001 (User Authentication) status to Refined"

Error Handling

Common Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
Feature not found	Invalid feature_id	Check feature_id exists on board
Board file missing	First feature operation	Auto-creates from template
Missing feature_id	Task Data Model incomplete	Ensure task type outputs feature_id
Invalid status transition	Skipped phase	Follow lifecycle order

Best Practices

For Feature Breakdown

•Create all features at once with create_or_update_features
•Include dependencies to track order
•Keep descriptions concise (≤100 words)

For Feature-Stage Tasks

•Always query feature board first to get full context
•Output feature_phase correctly (refinement, design, implementation, testing, closing)
•Include feature_id in task output

For Board Maintenance

•Let category skill handle status updates automatically
•Don't manually edit feature status
•Use query operation to check feature state

Notes

•Board is single source of truth for feature status
•All feature-stage tasks must output feature_id and feature_phase
•Status updates happen automatically via category closing
•Query interface available for any skill needing feature context
•Board file created automatically on first use