research-and-plan

name	research-and-plan
description	Research the codebase and create a concise implementation plan in one step. Use for small, focused changes where you want to go straight from research to a ready-to-implement plan without back-and-forth. For larger or more complex changes, use /research-codebase followed by /create-plan instead.
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Grep, Glob, Bash, Agent, mcp__plugin_claude-mem_mcp-search__smart_search, mcp__plugin_claude-mem_mcp-search__smart_outline, mcp__plugin_claude-mem_mcp-search__smart_unfold
model	opus

Research and Plan

Research the codebase, then write a concise plan. No interactive Q&A — just research and output.

Exploration Tools Priority

For code file exploration, prefer smart-explore tools (4-18x token savings):

Tool	Use instead of
smart_search(query, path) — discover files + symbols in one call	Glob + Grep discovery loop
smart_outline(file_path) — structural skeleton (~1-2k tokens)	Read on files > 100 lines
smart_unfold(file_path, symbol_name) — one symbol's full source	Read on large files for one function

Rule: Use Read only for files < 100 lines or non-code files (markdown, JSON, config).

Process

1. Read Mentioned Files First

For code files > 100 lines, prefer smart_outline + smart_unfold over Read. For small files, config, or markdown: use Read directly.

2. Research in Parallel

Spawn:

• codebase-locator: Find WHERE relevant files/components live
• codebase-analyzer: Understand HOW the affected code currently works

If thoughts/ exists, also spawn:

• thoughts-locator: Find relevant prior context

Wait for ALL to complete.

3. Write Concise Plan

If thoughts/ exists: thoughts/shared/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-description.md Otherwise: choose a sensible path in the project

# Plan: [Task]

## What & Why
[1-2 sentences]

## Current State
- `path/to/file:line` — [what exists now]

## Changes

### 1. [Component/File]
**File**: `path/to/file`
- [Specific change, with line reference if applicable]

### 2. [Next component]
...

## Success Criteria
- [ ] [Automated check]
- [ ] [Manual verification]

## Out of Scope
- [What we're NOT doing]

4. Present

Show plan location and a one-line summary. Ask: "Does this look right, or anything to adjust?"