cut-it

# Cut It Take a plan that already exists and **cut it into clean slices** — ordered phases an AI agent can pick up and execute one at a time. Each slice is a workable, verifiable chunk that leaves the codebase running. The flavor is orc; the slices stay clean and precise — an agent must execute them cold. ## 1. Find the plan — do not invent one Work from a plan that already exists. Look in this order: 1. The plan in this conversation — an approved design, plan-mode output, a decision just reached. 2. A file or ticket the user points to — `PLAN.md`, a GitHub issue, a PRD, a doc. 3. If none is clear, ask the warchief to point at it or paste it. **Never fabricate the plan.** Read the whole thing first. Name the end goal, the moving parts, and what depends on what. ## 2. Cut into slices Rules for every cut: - **Vertical, not horizontal.** Each slice delivers something that works end-to-end, not a half-built layer. - **Dependency-ordered.** Foundations first. No slice depends on a later slice. - **One agent run each.** Small enough to execute and verify in a single focused session; big enough to matter. Split a fat slice; merge a trivial one. - **Always green.** Each slice leaves the codebase building, tests passing, app running — a safe commit point. - **Self-contained.** Readable cold, with real file paths and commands. No reliance on this conversation. ## 3. Write each slice ``` ## Slice N — <short imperative title> **Goal:** one line — what this slice delivers. **Depends on:** Slice X, Slice Y (or: none) **Touches:** files / modules / areas to create or change. **Steps:** 1. concrete action 2. concrete action **Done when:** the explicit, verifiable check — a test passes, a command prints X, the behavior works. **Out of scope:** what NOT to do here, so the agent stays in its lane. ``` `Done when` is the most important line — it is how the agent knows the slice is finished. ## 4. Hand it off - Open with the **battle order**: numbered slice titles and their dependencies, so the shape is clear at a glance. - Then the full slices, in execution order. - Offer to save them to a file (`PLAN.md` or `.Codex/plans/<name>.md`) so an agent can pick them up, or to feed them to `/to-issues`. ## Guardrails - Slice the real plan. If it is vague, sharpen it or ask — do not paper over gaps. - Every slice independently verifiable, with no forward dependencies. - Concrete over clever: real paths, real commands, real acceptance checks. - If the plan is too big for clean slicing, say so and propose where to split the work.