Why Decompose Tasks?

Imagine asking an AI agent to "organize a conference." That's overwhelming—where does it even start? Task decomposition is the art of breaking complex, vague goals into clear, actionable steps. Just like building with LEGO blocks, we create manageable pieces that fit together to complete the whole.

Interactive: See the Difference

Toggle between monolithic and decomposed approaches to understand the power of breaking down tasks

Goal: "Plan company retreat"

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Single Giant Task

"Plan entire company retreat from start to finish"

❌ Too overwhelming to start

❌ Can't track progress

❌ Unclear what to do first

❌ No way to parallelize

❌ Hard to debug failures

Core Principles

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Clarity

Each subtask should have a clear, unambiguous goal that's easy to understand and verify

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Atomicity

Break down until each task is a single, executable action that can't be meaningfully subdivided

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Dependencies

Identify which tasks must complete before others—some run sequentially, others in parallel

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Hierarchy

Organize tasks in layers—high-level goals decompose into mid-level tasks, then atomic actions

Why This Matters

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Enables Parallelization

Independent tasks can run simultaneously, drastically reducing total execution time

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Simplifies Debugging

When something fails, you know exactly which subtask broke instead of debugging a monolith

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Tracks Progress

Users see clear progress: "3 of 5 tasks complete" beats "working on it..."

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Supports Replanning

If conditions change, replan individual subtasks without redoing everything

Task Decomposition

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