How to use the breakdown-test agent skill for test planning

What the breakdown-test skill makes the agent do

When installed, the agent works from a feature's requirements and technical plans and produces structured test planning documents. It applies ISTQB test design techniques such as equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis, and it uses the ISO 25010 quality characteristics to organise quality validation.

The skill covers three outputs: a test strategy, a test issues checklist, and a quality assurance plan. The checklist covers unit, integration, end-to-end, performance, security and accessibility test issues, plus estimated test tasks.

• Test strategy: scope, quality objectives, risks, test design techniques and environment and data plans
• Test issues checklist: test-level issues, test type priorities, dependencies, coverage targets
• Task breakdown: test implementation tasks with story-point estimates for GitHub Projects
• Quality assurance plan: entry and exit criteria for quality gates

Install the breakdown-test skill

Download the ZIP for breakdown-test from the directory page and unzip it. The skill is a folder that contains a single file, SKILL.md.

For a personal install, place the unzipped folder in ~/.claude/skills/. To share it with one project, place it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder instead.

If you use the Claude apps, you can upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills rather than copying files.

Prepare the feature documents first

The skill expects your feature to already be documented. It reads four files in a fixed folder layout, so have them in place before you ask for a test plan.

The skill writes its outputs into the same feature folder, so the plan sits next to the documents it was built from.

• Feature PRD: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}.md
• Technical breakdown: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}/technical-breakdown.md
• Implementation plan: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}/implementation-plan.md
• GitHub project plan: /docs/ways-of-work/plan/{epic-name}/{feature-name}/project-plan.md

Trigger the skill with a natural request

You do not need a special command. Ask for test planning for a named feature and point the agent at its documents. Name the epic and feature so the agent can find the right folder.

The skill then writes test-strategy.md, test-issues-checklist.md and qa-plan.md into the feature folder.

• Create a test strategy and test issues checklist for the feature in epic checkout, feature guest-payments, using the existing PRD and plan files.
• Draft the QA plan and test task estimates for the guest-payments feature.
• Break down the testing work for my feature so it can go into GitHub Projects as issues.

Review the output before you use it

The skill only writes planning text. The file itself contains no scripts and does not connect to the internet, so nothing runs on your machine when you use it. The generated plan is a first draft, and the skill's own description says a human tester must review it.

Check the test design techniques, risks and estimates against how your real system behaves. Treat the story-point ranges as starting points for team discussion, not commitments.

• Confirm the scope matches the real feature and its current code.
• Replace generic risks with ones your team has actually seen.
• Adjust estimates using your team's own velocity and experience.