planning

Create detailed technical implementation plans through research, codebase analysis, solution design, and comprehensive documentation.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Planning new feature implementations
• Architecting system designs
• Evaluating technical approaches
• Creating implementation roadmaps
• Breaking down complex requirements
• Assessing technical trade-offs

Core Responsibilities & Rules

Always honoring YAGNI, KISS, and DRY principles. Be honest, be brutal, straight to the point, and be concise.

1. Research & Analysis

Load: references/research-phase.md Skip if: Provided with researcher reports

2. Codebase Understanding

Load: references/codebase-understanding.md Skip if: Provided with scout reports

3. Solution Design

Load: references/solution-design.md

4. Plan Creation & Organization

Load: references/plan-organization.md

5. Task Breakdown & Output Standards

Load: references/output-standards.md

Workflow Process

1. Initial Analysis → Read codebase docs, understand context
2. Research Phase → Spawn researchers, investigate approaches
3. Synthesis → Analyze reports, identify optimal solution
4. Design Phase → Create architecture, implementation design
5. Plan Documentation → Write comprehensive plan
6. Review & Refine → Ensure completeness, clarity, actionability

Output Requirements

• DO NOT implement code - only create plans
• Respond with plan file path and summary
• Ensure self-contained plans with necessary context
• Include code snippets/pseudocode when clarifying
• Provide multiple options with trade-offs when appropriate
• Fully respect the ./docs/development-rules.md file.

Important

DO NOT create plans or reports in USER directory. ALWAYS create plans or reports in CURRENT WORKING PROJECT DIRECTORY.

Plan Directory Structure:

plans/{YYMMDD}-{HHMM}-{slug}/
├── research/
│   ├── researcher-XX-{topic}.md    # ≤150 lines each
│   └── ...
├── reports/
│   ├── scout-{slug}.md
│   └── ...
├── plan.md                          # Overview (under 80 lines, YAML frontmatter)
├── phase-XX-{name}.md
└── ...

Active Plan State

Prevents version proliferation by tracking current working plan within a session.

Rules

1. If active plan exists in ./plans/: Ask "Continue with existing plan? [Y/n]"
2. If no active plan: Create new plan using plans/{YYMMDD}-{HHMM}-{slug}/ naming
3. Remember the plan directory path and use it for all reports in this session

Report Output Location

All reports MUST follow the naming convention from ## Report Output Convention in project rules:

• Reports: ./plans/reports/{type}-{YYMMDD}-{HHMM}-{slug}.md
• Plan-specific reports: {plan-dir}/reports/

Important

DO NOT create plans or reports in USER directory. ALWAYS create plans or reports in CURRENT WORKING PROJECT DIRECTORY.

Quality Standards

• Be thorough and specific
• Consider long-term maintainability
• Research thoroughly when uncertain
• Address security and performance concerns
• Make plans detailed enough for junior developers
• Validate against existing codebase patterns

Remember: Plan quality determines implementation success. Be comprehensive and consider all solution aspects.