planning

name	planning
description	Produce execution-ready implementation plans for complex work. Use when tasks are multi-step, high-risk, ambiguous, or span multiple files/services.
user-invocable	false

Planning

Use this skill as the canonical source for planning behavior and transition-to-execution readiness.

Required Planning Gates

Before execution, confirm all of the following:

1. Exploration complete: relevant codepaths, docs, and constraints are identified.
2. Unknowns handled: unknowns are resolved or converted into explicit user questions.
3. Conversational planning complete: planning interaction challenges assumptions, pressure-tests risks, and avoids passive transcription.
4. Critique pass complete: every time the plan is updated, run a critique-capable sub-agent review before presenting the updated plan to the user.
5. Deterministic sequence: execution steps are ordered, concrete, and testable.
6. Failure protocol ready: rollback/mitigation approach is clear for risky operations.

Conversational Peer Behavior

• Act like a highly experienced peer reviewer, not a recorder.
• Challenge assumptions directly and propose concrete corrections when assumptions are weak.
• Surface blind spots, edge cases, and sequencing risks.
• Ask focused clarifying questions when requirements are ambiguous.
• Keep the planning loop interactive until execution steps are unambiguous.

Critique-Agent Requirement

• The critique step must use a sub-agent with critique/review capability.
• Do not hard-code a single tool name as universally available across harnesses.
• Record how critique feedback changed the updated plan before presenting it.

Execution Guardrails

• Do not start execution with unresolved decision branches.
• Do not leave implementation-critical steps as TBD or "decide later."
• If new unknowns appear during execution, stop and re-enter planning for that scope.

Plan Output Requirements

When producing or validating a plan, include only actionable execution instructions:

1. Objective
2. Ordered execution steps
3. Explicit dependencies and sequencing constraints
4. Verification/acceptance checks

All open questions must be resolved during the planning conversation before presenting final plan output. Do not include decision-making history, tradeoff history, or rationale narrative in final plan output.