# Split a story that is too big

> When Planning Poker says a story is above 13 points, cut it into smaller sub-tasks, with or without Prior AI, and estimate the pieces.

Source: https://priortasks.com/docs/agile/split-a-story/
Last updated: 2026-11-05

A story above 13 points is too big to commit to in one sprint: the team cannot estimate it well, and it rarely finishes in time. The Planning Poker table spots this and helps you cut the story into pieces that each deliver something on their own.

> [!pro] Part of the Scrum toolkit
> The split works at a Planning Poker table, so it follows the project owner's plan. Prior AI's proposals need a plan with Prior AI on **your own** account (Pro, Team or Enterprise). Writing the pieces yourself does not. See [Choose Kanban, Scrum or Scrumban](https://priortasks.com/docs/agile/kanban-scrum-scrumban/).

## When it appears

After the cards are revealed, if the suggested estimate is above 13 (20, 21, 40 or 100), or XL with T-shirt sizes, the result chip turns amber and reads "21 points: too big for one sprint". The main button becomes **Split the task**, and **Keep 21 points anyway** stays next to it. Only the host (or the project owner) can split. The other players read "Alex can split it into smaller tasks."

You can also split any task at any time: open the **Session** button and choose **Split this task**.

## Split it

1. Choose **Split the task**. The dialog states the rule and lists the pieces under **Smaller tasks**.
2. Write each piece as something that can be delivered on its own: "What can be delivered on its own?". Press <kbd>Enter</kbd> to add the next piece. <kbd>Backspace</kbd> in an empty piece removes it.
3. Choose **Create 3 tasks**, or press <kbd>Cmd</kbd> <kbd>Enter</kbd> (<kbd>Ctrl</kbd> <kbd>Enter</kbd> on Windows and Linux).

Use between 2 and 12 pieces, each with a title of up to 200 characters. Prior creates them as sub-tasks of the story, in the same project, area and milestone, in **Backlog** and without an estimate. In the session list the story is struck through and marked "Split", its pieces are indented under it, and the table moves to the first piece with a fresh round. The story keeps the points it had. A piece that is still too big can be split again the same way.

## With Prior AI

With Pro, Prior AI proposes the pieces when the dialog opens: two to six slices that each work on their own, split by workflow step, rule, data, role or the basic case first, not by technical layer. Each comes with a rough point guess, "Prior AI's rough guess, the table decides". A guess above 13 is flagged "Too big". **Other ideas** asks again. The scissors on a row split that piece again. You can edit, remove and add pieces before anything is created.

Prior AI sees the story's title, its description, the project name and the table's estimate, in the language of the story. Nothing is created until you choose **Create**.

Without Pro, the dialog starts with two empty rows and says what Pro adds. If Prior AI's daily limit is reached, or it cannot answer, write the pieces yourself. See [Limits of Prior AI](https://priortasks.com/docs/prior-ai/ai-limits/).

## Good to know

- A session holds up to 50 tasks, and up to 80 once splits add pieces. A single split creates at most 12.
- The pieces are ordinary sub-tasks. Outside Planning Poker you can add sub-tasks to any task: see [Sub-tasks and dependencies](https://priortasks.com/docs/tasks/sub-tasks-and-dependencies/).
- Splitting needs a connection when the session is shared.