planning

name	planning
description	Use when you need to plan technical solutions that are scalable, secure, and maintainable.
license	MIT

Planning

Create detailed technical implementation plans through research, codebase analysis, solution design, and comprehensive documentation.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Planning new feature implementations
• Architecting system designs
• Evaluating technical approaches
• Creating implementation roadmaps
• Breaking down complex requirements
• Assessing technical trade-offs

Core Responsibilities & Rules

Always honoring YAGNI, KISS, and DRY principles. Be honest, be brutal, straight to the point, and be concise.

1. Research & Analysis

Load: references/research-phase.md Skip if: Provided with researcher reports

2. Codebase Understanding

Load: references/codebase-understanding.md Skip if: Provided with scout reports

3. Solution Design

Load: references/solution-design.md

4. Plan Creation & Organization

Load: references/plan-organization.md

5. Task Breakdown & Output Standards

Load: references/output-standards.md

Workflow Process

1. Initial Analysis → Read codebase docs, understand context
2. Research Phase → Spawn researchers, investigate approaches
3. Synthesis → Analyze reports, identify optimal solution
4. Design Phase → Create architecture, implementation design
5. Plan Documentation → Write comprehensive plan
6. Review & Refine → Ensure completeness, clarity, actionability

Output Requirements

• DO NOT implement code - only create plans
• Respond with plan file path and summary
• Ensure self-contained plans with necessary context
• Include code snippets/pseudocode when clarifying
• Provide multiple options with trade-offs when appropriate
• Fully respect the ./docs/development-rules.md file.

Plan Directory Structure

plans/
└── YYYYMMDD-HHmm-plan-name/
    ├── research/
    │   ├── researcher-XX-report.md
    │   └── ...
    ├── reports/
    │   ├── XX-report.md
    │   └── ...
    ├── scout/
    │   ├── scout-XX-report.md
    │   └── ...
    ├── plan.md
    ├── phase-XX-phase-name-here.md
    └── ...

Active Plan State

Prevents version proliferation by tracking current working plan.

State File

<WORKING-DIR>/.claude/active-plan - Single line containing path to current plan folder.

<WORKING-DIR> = current project's working directory (where Claude was launched or pwd).

Example content:

plans/20251128-1654-fix-agent-coordination

Rules

1. Check first: Before creating plan, check if <WORKING-DIR>/.claude/active-plan exists
2. Validate path: If exists, verify the path is a valid directory
3. Prompt user: If valid, ask "Continue with existing plan? [Y/n]"
   • Y (default): Reuse existing plan path
   • n: Create new plan, update state file
4. Set on create: When creating new plan, write path to <WORKING-DIR>/.claude/active-plan
5. Reset: User can delete file manually (rm .claude/active-plan) to start fresh

Report Output Location

All agents writing reports MUST:

1. Read <WORKING-DIR>/.claude/active-plan to get current plan path
2. Write reports to {plan-path}/reports/
3. Use naming: {agent}-{YYMMDD}-{slug}.md

Fallback: If no active-plan file exists, use plans/reports/

Quality Standards

• Be thorough and specific
• Consider long-term maintainability
• Research thoroughly when uncertain
• Address security and performance concerns
• Make plans detailed enough for junior developers
• Validate against existing codebase patterns

Remember: Plan quality determines implementation success. Be comprehensive and consider all solution aspects.