plan

name	plan
description	Phase/task based workflow system with PLAN.md as single source of truth. Use when tackling projects that require structured iteration through Planning, Analysis, Design, Implementation, Testing, Deployment, Maintenance, etc phases with clear dependency graphs.
license	MIT
author	Tangled <[e-mail]>
version	0.1.9
tags	["meta","meta-skill","plan","workflow","task-management"]
category	meta

Plan - create, read, execute and update plan(s)

Overview

Phase/task based planning system with PLAN.md as single source of truth. There can be many PLAN.md files in different locations. Plan files create a dependency graph via **Depends On:** .... Strict phase numbering ([emoji-of-phase] Phase X Phase Title), inline phase dependency tracking, and emoji-coded statuses within current plan. Strict task numbering ([emoji-of-task] Task X.Y Task Title), inline phase/task dependency tracking, and emoji-coded statuses within current plan.

When to Use

• Starting a new project that requires structured phase-by-phase execution
• Tackling complex tasks with multiple dependent steps (implementation, testing, deployment)
• Coordinating work across multiple PLAN.md files with inter-plan dependencies
• Resuming interrupted work by tracking current phase and task state
• Any workflow where having a single source of truth for progress is valuable

Initial Setup

When this skill is invoked, follow these steps:

1. PLAN.md doesn't exist? → Generate the header deterministically in a single call, then append phases/tasks:

   # Single call — writes header directly to file
   bash scripts/plan.sh path/to/PLAN.md create "My Project" "../dep/PLAN.md"
   
   # Append phases and tasks after the header
   cat >> path/to/PLAN.md <<'EOF'
   

☐ Phase 1 Planning

• ☐ Task 1.1 Define requirements EOF

  
  The `create` action accepts two required arguments and one optional:
  - `PLAN.md` — file to write header to (required)
  - `title` — plan title (required)
  - `depends_on` — dependency path(s), defaults to `NONE`
  

2. PLAN.md exists? → Open it. Examine **Current Phase:** and **Current Task:** and propose a continuation point (hint: the next pending task could be one of the lowest-numbered but in this order ⚙️ ❓ ❌ ☐). All running tasks have to be re-run with status ⚙️ because they were probably interrupted.

Status Update Rules (MANDATORY)

ALL status changes MUST use scripts. NEVER use edit or write to change task, phase, plan emojis, or header fields. The edit and write tools may only be used for structural changes: adding/removing phases or tasks, changing titles, updating dependencies, adding sub-bullets, or modifying non-status content.

After every PLAN.md edit (structural or status), run the validator (see ## Validation). If errors are reported, fix them before proceeding.

All PLAN.md edits must go through the atomic update pattern (see ## Atomic Updates) to prevent concurrent processes from overwriting each other.

After Writing PLAN.md — Validate Every Section

After writing or structurally editing a PLAN.md file, always run the validator which checks all 9 sections:

bash scripts/validate-plan.sh path/to/PLAN.md

The validator reports errors section by section. Fix any errors before proceeding. If the validator reports derivation mismatches, re-derive:

bash scripts/plan.sh path/to/PLAN.md rederive-all

After Structural Edits — Use Scripts for Status/Header Updates

Once PLAN.md is written, all subsequent updates to statuses and header fields must go through scripts. The edit and write tools may only be used for structural changes (adding/removing phases or tasks). Even after structural edits, run the validator and re-derive emojis.

Script Operations Reference

Operation	Command
Status reads (lock-free, deterministic)
Get task status	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-task-status "Task X.Y"
Get phase status	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-phase-status "Phase X"
Get plan status	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-plan-status
Header reads (lock-free, deterministic)
Get current task	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-current-task
Get current phase	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-current-phase
Get plan title	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-plan-title
Get depends-on	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-depends-on
Get created timestamp	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-created
Get updated timestamp	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-updated
Status writes (atomic, auto-derives emojis)
Set task status	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-task-status "Task X.Y" "⚙️"
Set phase status	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-phase-status "Phase X" "⚙️"
Header writes (atomic, canonical format)
Set current task	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-current-task "⚙️ Task 2.3"
Set current phase	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-current-phase "⚙️ Phase 2"
Set plan title	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-plan-title "My Project"
Set depends-on	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-depends-on "../other/PLAN.md"
Update timestamp	bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md update-timestamp
Re-derivation

The scripts auto-derive phase emojis from tasks and plan emojis from phases. You never set a phase or plan emoji manually — it is always derived.

Deterministic status updates: When you set a task status, the scripts atomically update:

1. The task emoji in the body
2. The phase emoji (auto-derived from all tasks in that phase)
3. The plan emoji (auto-derived from all phases)
4. The **Current Task:** header emoji (synced with actual task status)
5. The **Current Phase:** header emoji (synced with derived phase status)
6. If the task completed (☑), auto-advance **Current Task:** and **Current Phase:** to the next pending task

This ensures all three levels (plan, phase, task) and both body and header are always consistent.

Plan emoji preservation on update: When editing a PLAN.md for any reason other than completing it (e.g., adding tasks, fixing content, updating dependencies), only change the plan emoji to ☐ if it was previously ☑. Otherwise preserve whatever status is present. The only statuses that persist across non-completion edits are: ❓ ⚙️ ❌.

Two rules govern **Current Phase:** and **Current Task:**:

1. During work — point to whichever phase/task is currently being worked on (not necessarily the last in list order).
2. On completion — when a task transitions to ☑ (Done), auto-advance both **Current Phase:** and **Current Task:** to the next pending task (lowest-numbered but in this order ❓❌☐ within the same phase, or the next phase if no pending tasks remain in the current phase). If the completed task was the last one overall, keep both fields pointing to it.

PLAN.md Header Template

The header block is generated deterministically by plan.sh create — never hand-write it. See ## Initial Setup for usage. The script ensures exact positioning of every comment line, blank line, and field so markdown renders consistently across all editors.

<!-- Plan Title is short but descriptive title of current plan -->
# ☐ Plan: Plan Title

<!-- default NONE if doesn't have dependencies, or relative paths to other PLAN.md files -->
**Depends On:** ...

<!-- ISO 8601 / UTC (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ) -->
**Created:** ...

<!-- ISO 8601 / UTC (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ) -->
**Updated:** ...

<!-- [emoji-of-phase] Phase X Phase Title -->
**Current Phase:** ...

<!-- [emoji-of-phase] Phase X - [emoji-of-task] Task X.Y -->
**Current Task:** ...

<!-- required: PHASES with TASKS start here -->

Universal emoji-coded statuses

Strictly use only the following emojis for statuses: ☐ ❓ ⚙️ ❌ ☑ ⚙️ (Doing) is always required before reaching ☑ (Done).

Plan Statuses

The plan itself carries a status via [emoji-of-plan] in its title:

# [emoji-of-plan] Plan: Plan Title

Strictly use following emojis for [emoji-of-plan] status:

• ☐ Not Started — plan created but no work has begun on any phase or task
• ❓ Needs Clarification — plan exists but requirements or scope need clarification before work can begin
• ⚙️ Active — at least one phase or task is in progress or pending
• ❌ Blocked — cannot proceed due to dependency cycles, unresolved external blockers, or critical failures across the plan
• ☑ Completed — all phases and all tasks within them have reached (Done)

Plan Status Transitions

These are valid state transitions for [emoji-of-plan]:

• ☐ → ⚙️ — begin work on the plan (start first task)
• ☐ → ❓ — plan created but scope or requirements need clarification before starting
• ⚙️ → ❓ — during work, something unexpected happened, need clarification
• ⚙️ → ❌ — critical blocker stops all progress across the plan
• ⚙️ → ☑ — all phases and tasks completed successfully
• ❓ → ⚙️ — clarifications resolved, begin work
• ❌ → ⚙️ — blocker resolved, resume work
• ❌ → ❓ — need clarification on how to resolve the blocker

⚙️ (Active) is always required before reaching ☑ (Completed). You cannot skip to Completed from Not Started or Blocked states.

Plan Status Derivation

The plan emoji is derived from its phases, not set independently:

• ☑ Completed — only when all phases have reached ☑
• ⚙️ Active — when at least one phase is ⚙️ or has a task that is ⚙️
• ❓ Needs Clarification — when no phase is ⚙️/☑ but at least one is ❓
• ❌ Blocked — when no phase is ⚙️/☑ but at least one is ❌
• ☐ Not Started — all phases are still ☐

When a plan transitions to ☑, it means every single task in every single phase is ☑. The scripts auto-derive the plan emoji after edits, so this happens automatically when using plan.sh. Do not mark the plan as completed until this condition is met.

Plan

PLAN.md = single source of truth: project with dependency graph. Multiple PLAN.md files can exist in different locations. They form a directed acyclic graph (DAG) via the required **Depends On:** header field:

• Multiple dependencies are comma-separated with spaces: ../a/PLAN.md , ../../b/PLAN.md
• Default value is NONE when the plan has no dependencies
• Cycles are not allowed. Check for cycles whenever any plan is created or when **Depends On:** is modified. If a cycle is detected (including transitive cycles), report it to the user and stop until resolved
• The dependency graph is resolved transitively by visiting referenced PLAN.md headers — not inline-expanded
• When a dependency is incomplete, ask what to do before proceeding

Phases

Phase is strictly formatted as ## [emoji-of-phase] Phase X Phase Title, where X is unique ID (X = phase number, starting from 1). Every Phase MUST have a unique ID in the exact format ## [emoji-of-phase] Phase X (X = phase number, starting from 1). All phases, tasks and their additions, changes, removals, transitions and dependencies live ONLY in PLAN.md file.

If a phase has zero tasks, emit a warning — it can never reach ☑ (Done) and is likely a mistake.

Tasks

Tasks are markdown list items. Each task is strictly formatted as:

- [emoji-of-task] Task X.Y Task Title (depends on: ...)
  - optional sub-bullet: acceptance criteria, notes, or implementation details
  - optional sub-bullet: additional context

Every task MUST have a unique ID in the exact format - [emoji-of-task] Task X.Y (X = phase number, Y = sequential task number within that phase).

Sub-bullets under a task are optional and carry no status tracking — they exist only to capture acceptance criteria, implementation notes, or context. They do not affect plan status derivation.

Task Granularity

Each task should be small enough to complete in one focused work session and large enough to produce a verifiable outcome:

• One task = one clear deliverable (a file, a function, a test, a config change)
• If a task requires more than three sub-steps, split it into separate tasks
• Tasks within a phase should be roughly comparable in scope
• Use sub-bullets under the task to record acceptance criteria or key details

Task Dependencies

Task dependencies are phase-bound by default (most will be same-phase).

When a task has dependencies, append to the task title the suffix (depends on: A , B , ...). If a task has no dependencies, don't append (depends on: ...) to it.

For phase-bound dependencies, A, B, etc. are of the form Task X.Y where X is the current phase.

For cross-phase dependencies, use the full Phase X - Task X.Y form where X is the other phase's ID and Y is the task ID within that phase.

This creates a clear directed graph that any reader (human or agent) can parse instantly.

Phase Status Derivation

A phase emoji is derived from its tasks, not set independently:

• ☑ Done — only when all tasks within the phase have reached ☑
• ⚙️ Active — when at least one task is ⚙️ (Doing)
• ❓ Needs Clarification — when no task is ⚙️ or ☑ but at least one is ❓
• ❌ Blocked — when no task is ⚙️ or ☑ but at least one is ❌
• ☐ To Do — all tasks are still ☐

The script (plan.sh) auto-derives phase and plan emojis after every task/phase status change. Phase and plan emojis are always derived — never set manually.

Phase and Task Statuses

Strictly use following emojis for [emoji-of-phase] and [emoji-of-task] status:

• ☐ To Do – backlog / new
• ❓ Question – question or clarification
• ⚙️ Doing – in progress / wip
• ❌ Error – error / failure
• ☑ Done – completed / done

Phase and Task Status Transitions

These are valid state transitions:

• ☐ → ⚙️ — new item, everything seems clear, start working
• ☐ → ❓ — new item, something is unclear, ask for clarification
• ⚙️ → ❓ — during work, something unexpected happened, need clarification
• ⚙️ → ❌ — during work, critical error or blocker stopped progress
• ⚙️ → ☑ — during work, successfully completed
• ❓ → ⚙️ — question resolved, resume working
• ❌ → ⚙️ — error state, decide to retry based on experience
• ❌ → ❓ — error state, need clarification to proceed

Plan Completion

Before producing the completion report, run the validator (see ## Validation). The plan is only considered complete when the validator reports zero errors and all tasks are ☑.

When all phases and tasks reach ☑ (Done), produce a short completion report summarizing:

• What was accomplished (list of completed phases)
• Any blockers or errors that were resolved
• Any open questions or items left for future work
• Path to the PLAN.md file

Dependencies

Scripts require: bash 4+, awk, sed, grep, flock, mktemp, date. All are available on Linux/macOS. On minimal containers, ensure util-linux (flock) is installed.

Validation

After every PLAN.md edit (initial creation or subsequent updates), run the validator script. This catches structural problems that manual editing can introduce. Emoji derivation (does phase emoji match its tasks?) is checked automatically — the validator focuses on things that fail silently.

Scripts live in scripts/ relative to this SKILL.md. Use paths relative to the skill directory:

bash scripts/validate-plan.sh path/to/PLAN.md

What it validates (section by section):

1. Plan Header — title line exists with valid emoji format (# [emoji] Plan: Title) and emoji is from allowed set
2. Header Fields — all required fields present (Depends On, Created, Updated, Current Phase, Current Task) with non-empty values
3. Phases — at least one phase, sequential numbering from 1, no duplicates, each has a title
4. Tasks — at least one task, sequential numbering within each phase, proper phase binding
5. Emoji Validity — all phase/task emojis are from the allowed set {☐ ❓ ⚙️ ❌ ☑}
6. Zero-Task Phases — flagged as warnings (can never reach ☑)
7. Phase Emoji Derivation — each phase emoji matches its derived status from tasks
8. Plan Emoji Derivation — plan emoji matches its derived status from phases
9. Current Phase/Task Consistency — emojis in **Current Phase:** and **Current Task:** match the actual statuses of the phase/task they reference

What it does NOT validate (requires LLM judgment):

• Dependency references point to existing tasks
• **Current Phase:** and **Current Task:** reference existing entries
• Whether the actual work described by a task was completed
• Whether acceptance criteria were met
• Semantic correctness of the plan content

Atomic Updates

When multiple processes or agents might edit PLAN.md concurrently, use the provided scripts for advisory locking and atomic writes. This prevents overwrites and partial writes.

Available Scripts

All paths are relative to this skill's directory (where SKILL.md lives).

Script	Mode	Purpose
scripts/plan.sh	Execute	Lock-and-edit with flock + atomic rename. Supports create for new plans, and all set/get actions for statuses, header fields, and re-derivation. All write actions are atomic: lock → backup → edit → re-derive all → validate with automatic rollback. Auto-derives phase and plan emojis after status changes. Syncs **Current Task:** and **Current Phase:** header emojis with actual body statuses. Auto-advances Current Task/Phase on task completion (☑). Read actions (get-*) are lock-free and deterministic.
scripts/derive-phase-emoji.sh	Execute	Derive phase emoji from its tasks' emojis using AWK. Priority: ⚙️ > ❓ > ❌ > ☑ > ☐.
scripts/derive-plan-emoji.sh	Execute	Derive plan emoji from all phases (re-deriving each phase from its tasks). Priority: ⚙️ > ❓ > ❌ > ☑ > ☐.
scripts/common.sh	Source	Shared helpers: emoji constants, derivation functions, header field access, lock management, Current Phase/Task sync, and auto-advance on completion. Sourced by other scripts — do not run directly.

Usage Examples

# Create a new PLAN.md with header
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md create "My Project"
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md create "Dependent Plan" "../other/PLAN.md"

# Header reads
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-plan-title
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-depends-on
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-created
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-updated
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-current-task
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-current-phase

# Header writes
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-plan-title "My Project"
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-depends-on "../other/PLAN.md"

# Status reads
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-plan-status
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-phase-status "Phase 2"
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md get-task-status "Task 2.3"

# Status writes
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-task-status "Task 2.3" "⚙️"
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md update-timestamp
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md set-current-task "⚙️ Task 2.3"


# Re-derive all emojis (fix stale phase/plan emojis)
bash scripts/plan.sh PLAN.md rederive-all

# Standalone derivation (read-only, no file changes)
echo "Phase 2 emoji: $(bash scripts/derive-phase-emoji.sh PLAN.md 2)"
echo "Plan emoji: $(bash scripts/derive-plan-emoji.sh PLAN.md)"

# Validation
bash scripts/validate-plan.sh PLAN.md

Properties

• flock -w 30 - blocks other writers, times out after 30s to avoid deadlocks (configurable via PLAN_LOCK_TIMEOUT)
• Stale lock detection - locks older than timeout with no holding process are automatically removed
• mktemp + mv -f - write to temp then atomic rename, so PLAN.md is never left partial
• Advisory lock - readers can still read PLAN.md while locked (they see the old version)
• Automatic rollback - all write actions back up the file and restore it if validation fails
• Cleanup on exit - temp files, backups, and lock files are removed via trap on normal exit, INT, and TERM
• Lock-free reads - get-* actions skip locking entirely (read-only)
• Lock file cleanup - the physical .lock file is removed after each operation (flock advisory lock is released when the file descriptor closes; the script also removes the lock file itself via release_lock in the cleanup trap)
• Nested lock safety - sets PLAN_SKIP_LOCK when recursively calling itself to avoid deadlocks
• Deterministic header access - all get-* and set-* for header fields use canonical parsing/writing via common.sh, ensuring values are always read and written in a consistent format