writing-plans

name	writing-plans
description	Use when you have a spec or requirements for a multi-step task, before touching code

Related skills: Did you /skill:brainstorming first? Ready to implement? Use /skill:executing-plans or /skill:subagent-driven-development.

Writing Plans

Overview

Write comprehensive implementation plans assuming the engineer has zero context for our codebase and questionable taste. Document everything they need to know: which files to touch for each task, code, testing, docs they might need to check, how to test it. Give them the whole plan as bite-sized tasks. DRY. YAGNI. TDD. Frequent commits.

Assume they are a skilled developer, but know almost nothing about our toolset or problem domain. Assume they don't know good test design very well.

Announce at start: "I'm using the writing-plans skill to create the implementation plan."

Context: This should be run in a dedicated worktree (created by brainstorming skill).

Save plans to: docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<feature-name>.md

Boundaries

• Read code and docs: yes
• Write to docs/plans/: yes
• Edit or create any other files: no

Bite-Sized Task Granularity

Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):

• "Write the failing test" - step
• "Run it to make sure it fails" - step
• "Implement the minimal code to make the test pass" - step
• "Run the tests and make sure they pass" - step
• "Commit" - step

Plan Document Header

Every plan MUST start with this header:

# [Feature Name] Implementation Plan

> **REQUIRED SUB-SKILL:** Use the executing-plans skill to implement this plan task-by-task.

**Goal:** [One sentence describing what this builds]

**Architecture:** [2-3 sentences about approach]

**Tech Stack:** [Key technologies/libraries]

---

Task Structure

### Task N: [Component Name]

**TDD scenario:** [New feature — full TDD cycle | Modifying tested code — run existing tests first | Trivial change — use judgment]

**Files:**
- Create: `exact/path/to/file.py`
- Modify: `exact/path/to/existing.py:123-145`
- Test: `tests/exact/path/to/test.py`

**Step 1: Write the failing test**

```python
def test_specific_behavior():
    result = function(input)
    assert result == expected

Step 2: Run test to verify it fails

Run: pytest tests/path/test.py::test_name -v Expected: FAIL with "function not defined"

Step 3: Write minimal implementation

def function(input):
    return expected

Step 4: Run test to verify it passes

Run: pytest tests/path/test.py::test_name -v Expected: PASS

Step 5: Commit

git add tests/path/test.py src/path/file.py
git commit -m "feat: add specific feature"

## Remember
- Exact file paths always
- Complete code in plan (not "add validation")
- Exact commands with expected output
- Reference relevant skills
- DRY, YAGNI, TDD, frequent commits
- Order tasks so each task's dependencies are completed by earlier tasks
- If plan exceeds ~8 tasks, consider splitting into phases with a checkpoint between them

## Execution Handoff

After saving the plan, mark the planning phase complete: call `plan_tracker` with `{action: "update", status: "complete"}` for the current phase.

Then offer execution choice:

**"Plan complete and saved to `docs/plans/<filename>.md`. Two execution options:**

**1. Subagent-Driven (this session)** - Fresh subagent per task with two-stage review. Better for plans with many independent tasks.

**2. Parallel Session (separate)** - Batch execution with human review checkpoints. Better when tasks are tightly coupled or you want more control between batches.

**Which approach?"**

**If Subagent-Driven chosen:**
- **REQUIRED SUB-SKILL:** Use `/skill:subagent-driven-development`
- Stay in this session
- Fresh subagent per task + code review

**If Parallel Session chosen:**
- Guide them to open new session in worktree
- **REQUIRED SUB-SKILL:** New session uses `/skill:executing-plans`