refinement

Prepare technical analysis for backlog refinement meetings.

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS

• List of Jira ticket IDs: /refinement BIL-3606 BIL-3580 BIL-3252
• Output directory: /refinement BIL-3606 --output ./refinement-2026-01-17/
• Exploration depth: /refinement BIL-3606 --explore thorough (quick|medium|thorough)

Step 1: Fetch Tickets

Ask the user to supply the ticket details:

"I don't have direct Jira access. Please provide ticket details in one of these formats:

1. Jira REST API JSON (paste from <your-jira-base>/rest/api/2/issue/TICKET-ID)
2. Copy/paste the ticket description from Jira
3. Tell me the ticket IDs and I'll ask for details on each"

Step 2: Explore Codebase

For each ticket, launch an Explore agent to find relevant code:

Task(subagent_type="Explore", prompt="""
Find code related to: {ticket.summary}

Context from ticket:
{ticket.description}

Search for:
1. Related components, models, APIs
2. Similar existing implementations
3. Test files
4. Migration patterns (if data changes needed)

Return:
- Key files with line numbers
- Existing patterns to follow
- Potential complexity factors
""")

Run up to 3 Explore agents in parallel for efficiency.

Step 3: Analyze & Estimate

For each ticket, determine:

Story Points (Fibonacci: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13):

Generate for each ticket:

1. Implementation steps (bullet points)
2. Key files to modify
3. Clarifying questions
4. Risk assessment

Step 4: Generate Output

Create output directory structure:

{output_dir}/
├── README.md                     # Index with summary table
├── BIL-XXXX_{title_snake_case}.md  # Individual ticket files
└── ...

Individual Ticket File Template:

# {ticket.key}: {ticket.summary}

**Story Points:** {estimated_points}
**Priority:** {ticket.priority}
**Status:** {ticket.status}

**Description:** {ticket.description | summarized}

---

## Key Files

| File              | Purpose       | Lines |
| ----------------- | ------------- | ----- |
| `path/to/file.py` | Model changes | 50-75 |
| ...               | ...           | ...   |

---

## Implementation Steps

1. Step one
2. Step two
3. ...

---

## Clarifying Questions

- Question 1?
- Question 2?

---

## Risk Assessment

**Risk Level:** Low | Medium | High

**Primary Risk:** Description

**Mitigation:** How to address

Index File (README.md) Template:

# Backlog Refinement - {date}

## Summary Table

| Ticket   | Title | Points | Complexity   | Risk         | Details                     |
| -------- | ----- | ------ | ------------ | ------------ | --------------------------- |
| BIL-XXXX | Title | **N**  | Low/Med/High | Low/Med/High | [View](./BIL-XXXX_title.md) |

---

## Dependencies

{dependency_diagram}

---

## Action Items

- [ ] Action item from refinement

Step 5: Present Summary

After generating files, present:

1. Summary table of all tickets with estimates
2. Key risks across all tickets
3. Dependencies between tickets
4. Recommended discussion order for refinement meeting

Ask:

"I've created refinement documents in {output_dir}/. Would you like me to:

1. Add meeting notes after your refinement session?
2. Create any additional analysis?"

Final output:

"Refinement analysis complete:

• Local files: {output_dir}/

Total: {n} tickets, {total_points} story points estimated"

Guidelines

• Default output directory: ./refinement/ in project root
• Use architecture patterns from CLAUDE.md when exploring (if available)
• Keep estimates conservative - round up when uncertain
• Flag blockers and dependencies prominently
• If ticket description is vague, generate more clarifying questions
• Cross-reference related tickets if they appear in the batch