fix(plugin): improve ticket description formatting and structure

Ticket descriptions were rendering as raw text with literal \n characters.
Added structured templates for both epic and unit ticket descriptions with
explicit guidance to use real newlines. Tickets now include Overview,
Completion Criteria, Dependencies, and Technical Notes sections.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: jwaldrip

plugin/providers/ticketing.md

@@ -21,8 +21,17 @@ description: Default ticketing provider behavior for AI-DLC
 - **Reviewer rejects** → Add review feedback as ticket comment, keep In Progress
 
 ## Ticket Content
-- Include unit success criteria as a checklist in the ticket description
-- Link to the `.ai-dlc/` artifact path or branch for developer reference
+
+**CRITICAL**: Always pass description strings with real newlines (multiline), never escaped `\n` literals. MCP tool description fields accept markdown — use it.
+
+Structure ticket descriptions with these sections (omit any that are empty):
+
+1. **Overview** — unit description (the prose from the unit file, not just the title)
+2. **Completion Criteria** — checklist (`- [ ] criterion`)
+3. **Dependencies** — blocked-by units with ticket keys if known
+4. **Technical Notes** — implementation guidance, constraints, or architectural notes from the unit file
+
+The goal is a ticket that gives a developer full context without needing to read `.ai-dlc/` files.
 
 ## Provider Config
 

plugin/skills/elaborate/SKILL.md

@@ -830,17 +830,67 @@ Read the provider config schema for reference: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/schemas/pr
 
 1. **Epic handling**:
    - If `epic` field in intent.md frontmatter is already populated (provided by product), use that existing epic — do not create a new one
-   - If `epic` is empty, create an epic from the intent (title from intent title, description from Problem + Solution) using the ticketing MCP tools (e.g., `mcp__*jira*__create*`, `gh issue create`), then store the epic key in intent.md frontmatter
+   - If `epic` is empty, create an epic from the intent using the ticketing MCP tools (e.g., `mcp__*jira*__create*`, `gh issue create`), then store the epic key in intent.md frontmatter
+   - Epic title: intent title
+   - Epic description (multiline markdown, NOT escaped `\n`):
+     ```markdown
+     ## Problem
+
+     {problem statement from intent.md}
+
+     ## Solution
+
+     {solution description from intent.md}
+
+     ## Units
+
+     {numbered list of unit titles from the decomposition}
+     1. {unit-01 title}
+     2. {unit-02 title}
+     ...
+     ```
 
 2. **Create tickets** per unit, using config fields:
    - Title: unit title (from unit filename slug, humanized)
-   - Description: unit completion criteria as checklist
+   - Description: see **Ticket Description Format** below
    - Issue type: `config.issue_type` (fall back to "Task")
    - Issue type ID: `config.issue_type_id` (overrides name lookup if set)
    - Labels: `config.labels[unit.discipline]` (if configured, apply discipline-mapped labels)
    - Story points: estimate and set if `config.story_points` = "required"
    - Details: include additional content per `config.details` requirements
 
+   ### Ticket Description Format
+
+   **CRITICAL**: Always pass description strings with real newlines (multiline), never escaped `\n` literals. MCP tool description fields accept markdown — use it.
+
+   Build the description from the unit file content using this structure:
+
+   ```markdown
+   ## Overview
+
+   {unit description from the unit file body — the paragraph(s) after the frontmatter heading}
+
+   ## Completion Criteria
+
+   - [ ] {criterion 1}
+   - [ ] {criterion 2}
+   - [ ] {criterion 3}
+
+   ## Dependencies
+
+   {if unit has depends_on, list them here with their ticket keys if known}
+   - Blocked by: {dependency unit title} ({ticket key})
+
+   {if unit has no dependencies}
+   None — this unit can start immediately.
+
+   ## Technical Notes
+
+   {include any implementation guidance, constraints, or architectural notes from the unit file body — omit this section if the unit has no technical detail beyond the criteria}
+   ```
+
+   Omit sections that have no content (e.g., skip "Dependencies" if none, skip "Technical Notes" if the unit file has no implementation detail). The goal is a ticket that gives a developer full context without reading the `.ai-dlc/` files.
+
    **Every unit ticket MUST be linked to the intent epic** (unless `config.epic_link` is explicitly set to `"none"`). The epic is the single parent that groups all unit work — without this link, tickets are orphaned and invisible to project tracking. This applies regardless of provider: Jira epic links, Linear parent issues, GitHub milestones/tracked-by, GitLab epic associations.
 
 3. **Map DAG to blocked-by** (if `config.issue_links` != "none"):