project-planning

name	project-planning
description	Interview-driven project planning — structured questioning to produce well-defined specs, then generate Planka cards. Use when planning a new project, breaking down a large initiative, defining requirements through structured questions, or creating a project spec with tasks.

Project Planning Skill

Transform a concept into an actionable specification through structured interview-style questioning. The output is a Markdown plan document and optionally a set of Planka cards ready for the board.

When to Use

• A concept needs to become actionable work
• A new project or content initiative needs scoping before execution
• Before starting a multi-phase effort

Process

The Interview

The interview has seven phases. Not every phase applies to every project — skip what doesn't serve the work.

Phase 1: Vision

• What is the project in one sentence?
• What prompted this?
• What does success look like? Be specific.

Phase 2: Scope

• What concrete things will this project produce?
• What will it explicitly NOT do?
• What already exists that we can build on?
• What is the minimum viable version?

Phase 3: Audience

• Who is the primary audience?
• What do they want from this?
• Where will they encounter it?
• What action do we want them to take?

Phase 4: Deliverables

For each deliverable: what, format/specs, who creates it, where it lives, dependencies, approval needed?

Phase 5: Dependencies & Blockers

• What skills/tools are required?
• What human actions are required?
• What information is missing?
• What are the risks?

Phase 6: Execution Plan

• Break work into phases — each phase produces something tangible
• Identify what can be parallelized
• Estimate effort for each phase
• Define checkpoints
• Identify the first concrete action

Phase 7: Cards

• Which Planka board and list?
• For each card: title, description, labels, dependencies

Quick Mode

For small tasks that need tracking but not full planning:

python3 {baseDir}/plan.py new "fix-session-bug" --quick

Quick mode creates a lightweight plan with just: What, Why, Done-looks-like, First action.

Usage

Start a new plan

python3 {baseDir}/plan.py new "website-content-update"

Creates a template at the configured plans directory.

List existing plans

python3 {baseDir}/plan.py list

View a plan summary

python3 {baseDir}/plan.py summary "website-content-update"

Generate Planka cards from a completed plan

python3 {baseDir}/plan.py cards "website-content-update" [--board main] [--list backlog] [--dry-run]

Mark a plan as active/completed

python3 {baseDir}/plan.py status "website-content-update" active

Environment Variables

• PROJECT_PLANS_DIR: Directory for plan files (default: ./project_plans)
• PLANKA_SKILL_PATH: Path to planka.sh for card creation
• PLANKA_API_URL: Planka instance URL (for card creation)
• PLANKA_API_TOKEN: Planka authentication token

Document Structure

Plans are Markdown files with sections for Vision, Scope, Audience, Deliverables, Dependencies, Execution Plan, Decisions Log, and Cards.

Cards use a comment format for automated creation:

<!-- CARD: board=main | list=backlog | labels=agent | title=Card Title -->
<!-- DESC: Description of the card -->