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Write implementation plans from a spec. Produces plan.md, checklist.md, and at least one real actions/ACTION_N.md (every tier) in the active intent directory.
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Based on SOC occupation classification
Wrap, finish, close, or mark an intent Done, delivered or abandoned. Use when completing or abandoning an intent, when a checklist reaches 100 percent and Exec is finished, or when asked to "wrap this up".
Autonomous intent delivery - agent takes over How and Exec. Use when user says "auto", "take it from here", "deliver this", or when brainstorming-grill-me concludes and user confirms autonomous execution. Requires an active intent in INDEX.md.
Use when diagnosing Plastic installation health, after updates, or when something seems broken. Runs checks and reports findings with fix options.
Use when updating Plastic. Runs the `update` verb, which reads the installed VERSION, derives its channel, queries npm dist-tags, and advances to the next version on that channel (or switches channel with a flag).
Use when merging a feature branch to main and tagging a release, bumping the version, or when the user says "release", "tag", or "ship it"
Use when completing or reviewing intents, reorganizing the index, or when the intent store needs maintenance. Examples: <example>Context: User has finished implementing a feature. user: "This intent is done, clean up the index" assistant: "I'll use the intent-curator to update the intent status and reorganize INDEX.md" <commentary>Intent lifecycle change triggers curator for index maintenance.</commentary></example> <example>Context: The intent store has grown and clusters need review. user: "Organize the intents" assistant: "I'll use the intent-curator to review clusters, flag orphans, and suggest connections" <commentary>Periodic maintenance of the Zettelkasten structure.</commentary></example>
| name | plastic-intent-planning |
| description | Write implementation plans from a spec. Produces plan.md, checklist.md, and at least one real actions/ACTION_N.md (every tier) in the active intent directory. |
| user-invocable | true |
Write comprehensive implementation plans assuming the engineer has zero context for our codebase and questionable taste. Document everything they need to know: which files to touch for each task, code, testing, docs they might need to check, how to test it. Give them the whole plan as bite-sized tasks. DRY. YAGNI. TDD. Frequent commits.
Assume they are a skilled developer, but know almost nothing about our toolset or problem domain. Assume they don't know good test design very well.
Announce at start: "I'm using the writing-plans skill to plan intent {id}: {name}."
Before proceeding, resolve the active intent:
~/.plastic/projects.yml, match CWD against registered project paths. If match → project store at ~/.plastic/projects/{slug}/store/. If no match → global store at ~/.plastic/store/.INDEX.md from the detected store. Look under ## Active. If exactly one → use it. If multiple → ask which. If none → refuse: "No active intent. Create one first with /plastic-intent-creating"{store}/store/{id}--{slug}/{intent_dir}/spec.md. If no spec exists → refuse: "No spec found. Run /plastic-intent-speccing first."All artifacts go to the intent directory. Never write to external paths.
If the spec covers multiple independent subsystems, it should have been broken into sub-project specs during brainstorming. If it wasn't, suggest breaking this into separate plans, one per subsystem. Each plan should produce working, testable software on its own.
Read the spec's stamped Tier: line (written by intent-speccing) and pick the action shape it calls for. Every tier produces at least one REAL action file in actions/; the tier only changes how many:
actions/ACTION_1.md that carries the whole ordered delivery (the steps plus the exact changes). plan.md still holds the overall map and checklist.md still mirrors the task list. You may split into a few action files when that reads cleaner, but one real action file is the floor.actions/ACTION_N.md, one per task, each readable without the plan (see references/plan-format.md).A .gitkeep never counts as an action, and an empty actions/ fails the How gate at every tier. At S/M, keep it to a single consolidated action file rather than one-per-task; over-splitting a small intent is the S/M failure mode, an empty actions/ is the tier-wide one.
Before defining tasks, map out which files will be created or modified and what each one is responsible for. This is where decomposition decisions get locked in.
This structure informs the task decomposition. Each task should produce self-contained changes that make sense independently.
Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):
For the exact plan/task/checklist/action format (the Plan Document Header
template, the full Task Structure worked example, and the checklist.md /
actions/ACTION_N.md templates), read references/plan-format.md before
writing plan.md. Every plan starts with the header template and decomposes
into tasks matching the Task Structure shape.
Every step must contain the actual content an engineer needs. These are plan failures, never write them:
After writing the complete plan, look at the spec with fresh eyes and check the plan against it. This is a checklist you run yourself, not a subagent dispatch.
1. Spec coverage: Skim each section/requirement in the spec. Can you point to a task that implements it? List any gaps.
2. Placeholder scan: Search your plan for red flags, any of the patterns from the "No Placeholders" section above. Fix them.
3. Type consistency: Do the types, method signatures, and property names you used in later tasks match what you defined in earlier tasks? A function called clear_layers in Task 3 but clear_full_layers in Task 7 is a bug.
If you find issues, fix them inline. No need to re-review, just fix and move on. If you find a spec requirement with no task, add the task.
After writing plan.md, create checklist.md (execution registry following the
FORM: ## In Progress, ## Completed, ## Session Log) and at least one real
actions/ACTION_N.md (self-contained, in an actions/ directory inside the intent
directory). At S/M write one consolidated actions/ACTION_1.md; at L write one
actions/ACTION_N.md per task (see Tier shapes above). For the exact format of
both, read references/plan-format.md.
When a task depends on an owner decision that must be made before any code edit
happens (a destructive step, a structural ruling, a merge that must land first),
add a checklist item prefixed [ORCHESTRATOR] that names the decision and states
plainly that it blocks all code edits until the owner rules on it. Order these
items first: destructive or structural rulings apply before the sweeping edits
that depend on them.
When collecting owner rulings for [ORCHESTRATOR] hard-gate items, read
~/.plastic/_decision-tables.md and follow the numbered-table procedure.
spec.md exists.plan.md, checklist.md, and at least one real actions/ACTION_N.md (every tier; one consolidated file at S/M, one per task at L).After writing all artifacts (plan.md, checklist.md, and the actions/ACTION_N.md files), commit to the store:
cd {store_root} && git add . && git commit -m "docs: plan for intent {id}: {name}"
Plan complete. Invoke plastic-intent-executing to begin execution.