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Epic Mode is designed to solve one of the biggest challenges in AI-assisted development: preserving human intent from initial idea to implementation. When building with AI agents, critical context often lives scattered across chat messages or exists only in your head - the “why” behind decisions, constraints, edge cases, and invisible rules. This is how drift happens: agents aren’t trying to be wrong, they’re just filling in gaps. Epic Mode captures this intent through a system of specs - not one giant document that becomes outdated, but focused mini-specs that each address a specific aspect of your project. Combined with structured workflows, actionable tickets, and verification at every stage, Epic Mode keeps your development process aligned with your original intent.
Epic Mode board view showing specs and tickets

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Understanding Artifacts

Epic Mode helps you create and manage artifacts - structured documents that form a system of interconnected specs and tickets. This system captures your development process from requirements to implementation. Artifacts come in two types:

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Specifications (Specs)

Specs are focused, high-level documents that capture requirements, design decisions, and technical planning. They provide the “why” and “what” of your project. Rather than one giant spec, Epic Mode favors mini-specs - each tightly scoped to a specific aspect, making them easier to maintain and update as your project evolves. Common spec types:
  • PRD (Product Requirements Document): Defines the problem, who’s affected, and the desired outcome at a product level
  • Tech Doc: Outlines architecture, technical approach, and implementation strategy
  • Design Spec: Documents user flows, UX decisions, and interaction patterns
  • API Spec: Defines API contracts, endpoints, and integration requirements
Specs are living documents - they evolve as your understanding deepens and requirements change. When something changes, you update the relevant mini-spec instead of rewriting everything.

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Tickets

Tickets are actionable work items that break down specs into concrete implementation tasks. Each ticket represents a focused unit of work that can be independently implemented. Ticket characteristics:
  • Contains clear acceptance criteria
  • Tracks status: Todo → In Progress → Done
  • Can be handed off to coding agents for implementation
Together, specs and tickets form a complete development workflow: specs capture the strategic thinking, while tickets drive the tactical execution.
Full Context Awareness: All specs and tickets within an epic are automatically in the LLM’s context. When you’re discussing a ticket or spec, the AI has full awareness of all related artifacts, previous decisions, and conversations - enabling coherent, context-aware development throughout your entire epic.

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How It Works

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1. Choose a Workflow

Select a workflow that will guide you through the development process with structured commands.Learn more about workflows.
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2. Start with Requirements

Provide your requirements, problem statement, or goals to the workflow’s entrypoint command.The AI begins processing according to the workflow’s instructions.
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3. Follow the Workflow

Progress through the workflow’s commands. Epic Mode emphasizes dialogue and elicitation - the AI doesn’t just generate documents, it actively asks pointed questions to surface constraints, edge cases, and the “invisible rules” behind your requirements.During this process, the AI will:
  • Ask clarifying questions to understand your intent deeply
  • Help you make explicit decisions instead of leaving ambiguity
  • Propose and create specification documents
  • Generate actionable tickets for implementation
  • Guide you through additional workflow-specific steps
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4. Handoff to Implementation

Once you have the specs and tickets you need, select them and hand off for implementation. Verification is built into Traycer’s implementation modes to continuously validate that execution matches your captured intent.See Selection and Handoff for details on the available options.

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Managing Specs and Tickets

Epic mode provides comprehensive artifact management capabilities. All specs and tickets are organized in the Documents panel on the side, where you can view, select, and manage them.

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Specs

  • Create: Generate specs through AI-assisted conversations or use the + Add Spec button
  • View & Edit: Select any spec from the list to view and edit its contents
  • Organize: All specs are grouped in the SPECS section of the Documents panel

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Tickets

  • Create: Break down work into actionable tickets or use the + Add Ticket button
  • View & Edit: Select any ticket from the list to view and edit its contents
  • Status Tracking: Track ticket status from Todo → In Progress → Done
  • Organize: All tickets are grouped in the TICKETS section of the Documents panel
  • Collaboration: Team collaboration features for distributing work are coming soon

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Selection and Handoff

Use the Select button to enter selection mode and choose specific specs and tickets. Once selected, you can:
  • Refer in Chat: Reference selected artifacts in conversation
  • Execute in Phases: Hand off to Phases mode for implementation
  • Handoff To: Send to your preferred coding agent