overview

name

overview

description

Validate and, when needed, normalize the two planning docs before generating blueprint/context/project-overview.md from blueprint/project-plan.md and blueprint/build-plan.md. The overview is the single AI-facing source of truth that project instructions load every session. Use when the user runs /overview, invokes $overview, has just finished writing or editing the plans, asks to shape rough plans into the Blueprint format, or asks to regenerate the project overview.

overview - turn the two plans into the AI-facing source of truth

Where this sits in the workflow:

project-plan.md  +  build-plan.md  ->  [this skill]  ->  project-overview.md  ->  /feature  ->  build
(what & why,         (high-level                          (the one doc the         (one spec
 written by you)      feature list,                        AI reads every           at a time)
                      written by you)                      session)

You provide two files: blueprint/project-plan.md (what & why) and blueprint/build-plan.md (the ordered feature list), drafted by you or with the AI's help; what matters is that you own their content. Everything else in the workflow is generated from those two. This skill is the first generation step: it distills both plans into blueprint/context/project-overview.md, the single doc project instructions load at the start of every session.

Input

The two planning docs, already written:

• blueprint/project-plan.md - problem, users, features, data, tech, monetization, UI/UX
• blueprint/build-plan.md - the ordered, one-line-per-feature build checklist

If either is missing or still has placeholder text, stop and tell the user to fill it in first. This skill distills plans; it does not invent them.

Placeholder text means the blueprint template's own scaffolding, not real content: checklist items like Feature one / Feature two, a trailing - description, TODO, TBD, or the template's example bullets left in place. Watch for the masking trap in particular: build-plan.md can still be the stub while project-plan.md §3 already lists the real features. When that happens the overview can be synthesized from project-plan.md alone and come out looking complete, hiding the empty checklist that /feature actually reads. A rich project-plan.md must not paper over a stub build-plan.md - reconcile the checklist first (Step 2) rather than generating over the gap.

Step 1 - read both plans

Read project-plan.md and build-plan.md in full. Note where they disagree - a feature in the build plan the project plan never mentions, a data point no feature uses, a stack choice that contradicts a standard. You will surface these, not paper over them.

Step 2 - validate plan shape

Before writing project-overview.md, check that the plans are shaped well enough to drive the build loop.

build-plan.md should be:

• a numbered checkbox list using - [ ] or - [x]
• one feature-sized outcome per line
• ordered roughly from first useful slice to later integrations and hardening
• specific enough for /feature to turn the item into a spec
• free of pre-build setup items such as scaffolding the app, installing the framework, or prototyping the look

Flag these as plan-shape problems:

• plain bullets with no checkboxes
• vague items like "database", "auth stuff", "make it nice", or "admin"
• giant items that bundle many features together
• implementation chores instead of user-visible or system-visible outcomes
• feature lists in project-plan.md that do not match build-plan.md

Stub build plan, real project plan (hard stop). If build-plan.md is still the template stub or otherwise placeholder-only while project-plan.md §3 lists real features, do not generate the overview from project-plan.md alone. Derive the ordered checklist from project-plan.md's feature list, show it, and on approval write it into build-plan.md before continuing. This is faithful, not invented scope - the features are already the user's, they were just never transcribed into the tracked checklist. The overview is generated from build-plan.md, so build-plan.md must hold the real feature checklist first; never leave it a stub sitting behind a complete-looking overview.

If the build plan is rough but understandable, propose a cleaned-up checkbox version and stop for user approval before editing the plan or generating the overview. Keep the proposal faithful to the user's scope; sharpen wording and split obvious bundles, but do not add new features.

If the user explicitly asked you to clean up the plans in the same request, you may update build-plan.md after showing the normalized version. Otherwise, stop and ask for approval.

If the issues are minor and do not affect build order, continue and list them under Open questions or gaps in the final report.

Step 3 - synthesize the overview

Write blueprint/context/project-overview.md (create blueprint/context/ if needed), following reference/project-overview-template.md. The overview is a consolidation, not a copy:

• One source of truth. Merge both plans into one coherent document. After this runs, the AI reads the overview, not the raw plans.
• Make the data model concrete. Turn the plan's data list into actual models with fields, types, and relationships, derived from the features that use them. This is the most valuable thing the overview adds.
• Tie features to build order. List the features with a one-line purpose each, in build-plan order, so the AI knows what exists and what's next.
• Stay faithful. Don't add features, data, or stack choices that aren't in the plans. If something is underspecified, leave a clearly marked > TODO rather than inventing an answer.

Then stop. Report what you wrote and list any contradictions or gaps you found between the two plans, so the user can fix the plans and re-run.

In the next-step guidance, keep /feature as the main path. If the UI direction still feels unsettled, also mention that /prototype is available before /feature: it writes throwaway static HTML/CSS mockups to prototypes/ and does not modify the main app code.

Rules

• Generated, not authored. Treat project-overview.md as a build artifact of the two plans. When the plans change, re-run this skill rather than hand-editing the overview.
• Plans are user-owned. Do not silently rewrite project-plan.md or build-plan.md. Propose normalized plan text and stop for approval unless the user explicitly asked you to clean up the plans.
• Build plan must be trackable. Prefer a numbered checkbox list. If the build plan is raw bullets, or still a stub while project-plan.md lists the features, normalize it and write the reconciled checklist back into build-plan.md before generating the overview. The real feature list must never live only in the overview - /feature reads build-plan.md, not the overview.
• No new scope. Everything in the overview must trace back to one of the two plans. Invented scope is the main failure mode here.
• Concrete over vague. Field-level data models and named routes beat restating the plan's one-liners.
• Surface conflicts. Always end by reporting disagreements between the plans; silent reconciliation hides decisions the user should make.

When to re-run

Re-run whenever project-plan.md or build-plan.md changes materially - a new feature, a changed data model, a different stack. The overview is downstream of the plans and should be regenerated, not patched.

Formatting

Format the output to match the project's conventions in blueprint/context/ai-interaction.md: concise, scannable markdown, with lists for enumerations and tables for matrices rather than dense paragraphs.