---
requires: wave/<wave>/GOAL.md
produces: wave/<child>/ directories
---
Decompose a wave into smaller, independent waves. The original wave is replaced entirely.
## Orientation
Before starting, orient yourself in this branch:
- Read `scratch/` — design docs and notes for the current work live here
(`scratch/<branch>.md` is this PR's design; `scratch/questions.md` holds open
questions and assumptions).
- If a `wave/<name>/` directory matches this work, skim its `GOAL.md`/`MEMORY.md`
and its live roadmap (`lf op pm show --wave <name>`).
- Read the repo's agent doc (`CLAUDE.md` / `AGENTS.md`) for conventions.
Write design artifacts, notes, and open questions under `scratch/`. Don't
re-derive what these already record.
## Goal
Wave mitosis. The parent wave ceases to exist — its identity and roadmap are distributed across N new waves.
The numeric argument controls how many children to create (default 2).
Roadmap items (Linear issues) move as-is — each one lands in exactly one child. But `GOAL.md` needs rewriting, not slicing:
- **Intent**: written fresh for each child. Must be internally coherent, not a fragment of the parent's.
- **Metrics**: preserved and distributed. A metric can appear in multiple children if it spans both.
- **Memory**: carry forward the decisions in `MEMORY.md` that each child still needs.
## Workflow
1. Read the parent wave
- Use the wave passed by argument, or ask which `wave/<name>/` to split
- Read `GOAL.md`, `MEMORY.md`, and the live roadmap (`lf op pm show --wave <parent>`)
2. Find split boundaries
- Look for thematic clusters, dependency chains, or independent workstreams
- Aim for the requested count (default 2)
- Each resulting wave should stand alone
3. Allocate roadmap items
- Assign each Linear issue to exactly one child — no orphans
4. Create the new waves
- `wave/<child>/GOAL.md` — fresh intent and metrics for each child; carry forward the primary flow; draw scope boundaries between siblings
- `wave/<child>/MEMORY.md` — the decisions and context this child inherits
- `lf op pm init --wave <child>` — connect each child's Linear project
- Recreate the allocated items on each child's roadmap with `lf op pm update`, and close them on the parent (`lf op pm update --id <task> --status done` is for shipped work; for a move, recreate on the child and delete/close on the parent)
5. Remove the parent
- Delete `wave/<parent>/`
- Commit: `split-wave: <parent> → <child-a>, <child-b>`
6. Verify
- Each child has a `GOAL.md`, a `MEMORY.md`, and a connected Linear project
- No content from the parent is unaccounted for
## Guardrails
- Carry forward the original wave's intent — don't reshape the product direction during a split
- Concrete, domain-specific names for children
- When a boundary is unclear, pick the simpler option and note the alternative in `scratch/questions.md`