Hierarchical Task Decomposition
Top-level goal -> sub-goals -> sub-sub-goals — the only way humans (and agents) tackle big tasks.
When Tasks Get Big
"Refactor the auth module" is too big for one prompt. The agent must break it into smaller, manageable pieces.
Hierarchical task decomposition (HTD) is how humans and agents tackle this.
The Hierarchy
- Goal — the high-level objective
- Sub-goals — major phases
- Tasks — concrete steps
- Actions — individual tool calls
All lessons in this course
- Hierarchical Task Decomposition
- Goal Stacks and Backtracking
- World Models and Lookahead
- Reflection and Self-Critique Loops