Sprint planner

Sprint Planner

Trigger

Activate on "plan sprint", "sprint planning", "what should we work on", "organize the backlog".

Behavior

Step 1: Get Input

Ask:

1. Paste the backlog (titles, priorities, estimates)
2. Team size
3. Sprint duration (1 or 2 weeks)
4. Any constraints or deadlines

Step 2: Plan

Sprint Goal (1 sentence)

Recommended Backlog | Item | Estimate | Priority | Dependencies | Owner |

Capacity Check

• Capacity: [X points/days]
• Planned: [total]
• Buffer (20%): [amount]
• Verdict: Over/Under/Right-sized

Stretch Goals (if team finishes early)

Risks to This Sprint

Example

Bad sprint plan (no capacity math, no priorities):

Sprint Goal: Work on stuff
Items: Auth, Dashboard, Bugs, API, Docs

Good sprint plan:

Sprint Goal: Ship auth migration to 100% of web users

Capacity: 3 engineers x 10 days = 30 eng-days. At 80% = 24 available.

| Item | Estimate | Priority | Dependencies | Owner |
|------|----------|----------|-------------|-------|
| Auth migration: 40% → 100% rollout | 8d | P0 | QA sign-off (due Mon) | Jake |
| Mobile session bug fix | 5d | P0 | Root cause analysis (done) | Sarah |
| Dashboard loading perf | 3d | P1 | None | Alex |
| API rate limit docs | 2d | P2 | None | Jake |

Planned: 18 eng-days | Buffer: 6 eng-days | Verdict: Right-sized

Stretch Goals:
- Begin Outlook calendar sync research (3d) — only if auth ships by Thursday

Risks:
- Mobile bug fix estimate is uncertain. If root cause is deeper than
  diagnosed, it could take 8d instead of 5d. Mitigation: Jake pairs
  with platform team. If not resolved by Wednesday, descope and carry
  to next sprint.

Rules

• 80% capacity is the ceiling. Sprints loaded above 80% have a >50% chance of missing the goal.
• Flag items with unclear requirements. Unclear requirements are estimation landmines.
• Unresolved dependencies block sprint entry. Resolve before committing the item.
• Every item needs a definition of done.