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Epic
An epic is a body of work too large to finish in one sprint, split into smaller stories that each deliver a testable slice of value.
Epics exist to give altitude: a stakeholder sees 'checkout revamp, seven of twelve done' while the team works at individual-issue level. Sprint planning pulls the children, never the epic itself, which is the discipline that keeps sprints finishable.
Split epics vertically by user value rather than horizontally by layer. 'User can pay with UPI' is a slice; 'build the database' is not, because it cannot be demonstrated to anyone who cares.
In Flocci Projects
Epic is one of five issue types (Task, Bug, Feature, Improvement, Epic); related issues roll up to it.
Related terms
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- Agile
- Backlog refinement
- Blocker
- Burndown chart
- Burnup chart
- Cycle time
- Daily standup
- Definition of done
- Definition of ready
- Kanban
- Lead time
- Planning poker
- Product backlog
- Product owner
- Retrospective
- Scrum
- Scrum master
- Sprint
- Sprint goal
- Sprint planning
- Sprint review
- Story point
- Swimlane
- Throughput
- User story
- Velocity
- WIP limit