Epic
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
An epic is a big chunk of work that's too large to finish in one sprint, so it gets broken down into smaller user stories. 'Implement authentication' is an epic. The individual stories inside it — login, signup, password reset — are smaller, sprint-sized pieces.
Real Talk
An epic is a large body of work that cannot fit within a single sprint and must be broken down into smaller user stories or tasks. Epics represent a significant feature or outcome and span multiple sprints. They sit above stories in the hierarchy: Epic > Story > Task.
When You'll Hear This
"The payments epic has 12 stories across 3 sprints." / "Group those related tickets under the same epic."
Related Terms
Backlog
The backlog is the master to-do list for a product — every feature, bug, and idea that hasn't been built yet, prioritised by importance.
Scope Creep
Scope creep is when a simple feature request slowly grows into rebuilding the entire application.
Scrum
Scrum is a specific recipe for doing Agile.
Sprint
A sprint is a fixed time-box — usually 1-2 weeks — where a team commits to completing a specific set of tasks.
Ticket
A ticket is a single unit of work in a project management tool — it could be a bug to fix, a feature to build, or a task to complete.
User Story
A user story is a tiny description of a feature from the user's perspective, written in plain English: 'As a user, I want to reset my password, so that I c...