plan-enforcer-combobulate

name	plan-enforcer-combobulate
description	Public flow name is `discuss`. Use this compatibility skill before `plan-enforcer-draft` when the user's request is ambiguous, underspecified, or mixing multiple outcomes --- it writes the intent packet the drafter consumes so the resulting plan reflects what the user actually wants instead of what sounded reasonable to guess.

Plan Enforcer Discuss

Public front-end name is discuss -> draft -> review. This skill file and packet path stay on legacy combobulate naming for compatibility.

An intent-capture gate. The job is to turn a fuzzy request ("clean up the auth flow", "make the onboarding better") into a concrete written intent packet before anyone drafts tasks against it. Mis-scoped plans fail downstream no matter how rigorous the drafting is.

This skill is the "brainstorming HARD-GATE equivalent" discussed in moat-todo, but mechanism-distinct: the output is a file, not a conversational acknowledgment. plan-enforcer-draft reads the packet on its next invocation.

When to use

Use this when any of:

• The user's request spans multiple outcomes that could each be their own plan ("add OAuth, fix the session timeout, and rewrite the middleware tests")
• The request is framed in solution language without naming the problem ("let's add Redis" without "because X is slow under Y load")
• Success criteria are implicit or aspirational ("make it faster", "make it more reliable") without measurable targets
• The relevant codebase has more than one plausible interpretation of the request and the wrong interpretation would waste a phase

Skip this skill when the request is already concrete ("add a /healthz endpoint returning 200 OK"), the user says "skip discuss" or "skip combobulate" or similar, or a packet at .plan-enforcer/combobulate.md already exists and is recent (mtime < 24h) and the new request overlaps with its scope.

Rules

1. At stage start, set the statusline stage to 1-DISCUSS with: node "$HOME/.claude/skills/plan-enforcer/src/statusline-stage-cli.js" discuss --label 1-DISCUSS
2. Produce a single file at .plan-enforcer/combobulate.md. One per project; overwrite the prior one unless the user asks otherwise. If .plan-enforcer/combobulate.md already exists, Read it before overwriting. Claude runtime rejects overwrite-without-read.
3. Also update .plan-enforcer/discuss.md as the canonical public-path copy. If it already exists, Read it before overwriting or update it after reading the canonical packet.
4. Do NOT start drafting tasks in this skill. Its output is an intent packet, not a plan.
5. Ask only questions whose answers change the plan shape. If the user has already stated something, record it; do not re-ask.
6. Default to the packet sections below. Only omit a section when it truly adds no value for the current ask.
7. If a question has two plausible answers that would lead to very different plans, ask the user. Do NOT pick one silently.
8. When done, tell the user the packet path and that draft (plan-enforcer-draft) will consume it automatically on its next run.
9. Before writing the packet, ensure awareness has at least one verbatim intent row:
   • run plan-enforcer-awareness capture-latest --if-empty
   • if plan-enforcer-awareness is not on PATH, use: node "$HOME/.claude/skills/plan-enforcer/src/awareness-cli.js" capture-latest --if-empty
   • if you rely on additional scope-bearing user quotes beyond the latest prompt, append them with plan-enforcer-awareness add --intent "<verbatim quote>"
   • same fallback for manual rows: node "$HOME/.claude/skills/plan-enforcer/src/awareness-cli.js" add --intent "<verbatim quote>"
   • do not paraphrase those quotes into awareness rows; exact text only

Recommended packet shape

# <short name for what we're doing>

## Source Ask
> <verbatim user quote when wording matters>

## Normalized Goal
<1-3 sentences on what is actually wrong or missing today. No
premature implementation framing.>

## Non-Negotiables
- NN1: <constraint or outcome that must survive drafting/execution>

## Hidden Contract Candidates
- HC1: <semantic expectation easy to lose>

## Plausible Interpretations
- PI1: <reasonable reading>
- PI2: <other reasonable reading>

## Chosen Interpretation
<which interpretation we are planning against, and why>

## Rejected / Forbidden Narrowings
- FN1: <easy but wrong simplification>

## In Scope
- <outcome 1, user-visible>
- <outcome 2>

## Out of Scope
- <thing that looks related but we are deliberately not doing this turn>

## Constraints (optional)
- <hard limit: perf budget, compat surface, deadline, team>

## Success Signals (optional)
- <how we will know this worked - measurable or demo-able>

## Drift Risks (optional)
- DR1: <where later stages could drift>

## Proof Requirements (optional)
- PR1: <artifact or proof later stages must produce>

## Draft Handoff (optional)
- phase shape hint: <likely decomposition>
- planning red lines: <what draft must not silently change>

Recommended method

Run in three passes:

1. Ask capture
   • preserve the source ask
   • normalize the goal
   • extract obvious constraints and scope
2. Meaning defense
   • list plausible interpretations
   • choose one or ask the user
   • name forbidden narrowings and drift risks
3. Draft handoff
   • define success signals
   • define proof requirements
   • suggest phase shape without turning it into tasks

Anti-patterns

Producing a packet that looks like a plan is the failure mode. Smells:

• Numbered task list in the packet -> stop, this is the drafter's job
• Time estimates or file paths in the packet -> stop, too early
• More than ~600 words with no real ambiguity handling -> too much summary, not enough structure
• Success signals that are aspirational ("make it feel fast") rather than observable ("p95 under 200ms under 50 rps")
• Missing Rejected / Forbidden Narrowings on a risky or fuzzy ask
• Missing Proof Requirements when later verification will matter

Handoff

After writing the packet:

• Tell the user the path (.plan-enforcer/combobulate.md).
• Summarize the key decisions captured in one line per major section.
• Offer next step in public wording: "want me to draft the plan against this discuss packet?" and wait. Do not auto-invoke the drafter.