| name | plan-and-solve |
| description | Maintain a living context document (plan.md) as a self-note to preserve the original agenda, track progress, and prevent context drift during complex tasks |
plan-and-solve
Write and maintain a plan.md in the session workspace as a self-note to stay on track during complex tasks.
When to Use
- Task has many steps and you risk losing the thread
- Need to remember decisions or discoveries across steps
- User request is broad and needs crystallizing before acting
- Delegating to sub-agents and need a shared reference
When NOT to Use
- Task is straightforward (< 3 steps)
- You can hold the full context in one response
- The user already gave a precise, step-by-step instruction
How It Works
1. Write the plan early
Create plan.md in the session workspace at the start. Template:
# Goal
<What the user wants and why, in your own words.>
## Agenda
- [ ] <concrete step>
- [ ] <concrete step>
## Constraints
- <conventions, existing tests, user preferences to respect>
## Open Questions
- <anything unclear — resolve by asking the user before proceeding>
Keep it terse. This is a note to yourself, not documentation.
2. Resolve open questions first
Don't guess. Ask the user to clarify before you start work. Remove resolved questions from the list; record answers in Constraints or Agenda as appropriate.
3. Re-read before each major step
Before starting a step, re-read plan.md. Check:
- Am I still aligned with the original goal?
- What's next?
Do this especially after detours, errors, or sub-agent results.
4. Update as you go
After completing a step or learning something new, edit plan.md:
- Mark done:
- [x] step — note if approach changed
- Add new items discovered along the way
- Record key decisions and why
5. Handle plan failure
If reality diverges so much the plan no longer makes sense:
- Don't patch a broken plan — rewrite the Agenda section from scratch
- Keep the original Goal as anchor
- Note what changed and why in a
## Pivot section
6. Delegate with the plan
When using sub-agents, include relevant sections of plan.md in the prompt so they share context. Update the plan with their findings.
7. Close out
When done, update plan.md one last time:
- What was actually done
- Any loose ends or follow-ups
Rules
- Write early. Before you're lost, not after.
- Keep honest. A stale plan is worse than no plan.
- Keep brief. Bullets over paragraphs.
- Re-read often. The value is in consulting it, not writing it.
