planning

name	planning
description	Planning lifecycle: specs, requirements, pre-plan ambiguity resolution, file-backed plans, plan validation, pause/resume, session handoff.
user-invocable	true
agent	general-purpose
allowed-tools	["Read","Write","Edit","Bash","Glob","Grep","Skill"]
routing	{"force_route":true,"not_for":"city/financial/meeting/travel planning; and personal prioritization like 'what should I work on next' — that is productivity. Not for packaging inline agent-to-agent session state (working tree, PR/CI, live processes) — that is session-handoff; planning's pause/resume owns plan-artifact handoff via HANDOFF.json plus pause.md/resume.md. Only for software task planning, specs, and plan-lifecycle management.","triggers":["write spec","user stories","define requirements","scope this","what should this do","acceptance criteria","define scope","spec out","discuss ambiguities","resolve gray areas","clarify before planning","assumptions mode","what are the gray areas","before we plan","pre-planning discussion","interview me","grill me","depth-first review","depth-first interview","not sure","i'm not sure","not exactly sure","where do i start","where do i even start","want clarity on","need clarity on","what am i missing","poke holes in","challenge my assumptions","think this through with me","lots of moving parts","many decisions","create plan","task plan","working memory","persistent plan","file-backed planning","check plan","validate plan","plan checker","review plan","is this plan ready","plan-checker","pre-execution check","list plans","show plan","complete plan","plan status","manage plans","pause plan","save progress","stopping for now","end session","pick this up later","session handoff","wrap up session","resume plan","continue plan","resume where we left off","pick up where I left off","what was I doing","continue work","where did I leave off","what's next"],"category":"process","complexity":"medium","pairs_with":["workflow","feature-lifecycle","decision-helper"]}

Planning Skill

Umbrella skill for the planning lifecycle. Routes to the correct reference based on the intent requested: write a spec, resolve ambiguities before planning, create a file-backed plan, validate a plan, manage plan lifecycle, pause a session, or resume from handoff artifacts.

Routing

Detect the user's intent and load the appropriate reference file:

Intent	Trigger phrases	Reference
Spec	"write spec", "user stories", "define requirements", "scope this", "acceptance criteria", "define scope", "spec out"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/spec.md
Pre-plan	"discuss ambiguities", "resolve gray areas", "clarify before planning", "assumptions mode", "before we plan", "pre-planning discussion"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pre-plan.md
Interview	depth-first decision-tree, one question at a time, recommendation per question. Triggers: "interview me", "grill me", "depth-first review", "depth-first interview", "not sure", "i'm not sure", "where do i start", "want clarity on", "need clarity on", "what am i missing", "poke holes in", "challenge my assumptions", "think this through with me", "lots of moving parts", "many decisions"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/depth-first-interview.md
Plan-files	"create plan", "task plan", "working memory", "persistent plan", "file-backed planning"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/plan-files.md (+ ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/executor-ready-plan-template.md when the plan will be executed by subagents (SDD))
Check	"check plan", "validate plan", "plan checker", "review plan", "is this plan ready", "pre-execution check"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/check.md
Manage	"list plans", "show plan", "complete plan", "plan status", "manage plans"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/manage.md
Pause	"pause", "save progress", "handoff", "stopping for now", "end session", "session handoff", "wrap up session"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/pause.md
Resume	"resume", "continue", "pick up where I left off", "what was I doing", "continue work", "where did I leave off", "what's next"	${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/resume.md

Reference Loading Table

Signal	Load These Files	Why
"write spec", "user stories", "define requirements", "scope this", "acceptance criteria", "define scope", "spec out"	spec.md	Spec
"discuss ambiguities", "resolve gray areas", "clarify before planning", "assumptions mode", "before we plan", "pre-planning discussion"	pre-plan.md	Pre-plan
"interview me", "grill me", "depth-first review", "depth-first interview", "not sure", "i'm not sure", "where do i start", "want clarity on", "need clarity on", "what am i missing", "poke holes in", "challenge my assumptions", "think this through with me", "lots of moving parts", "many decisions"	depth-first-interview.md	Interview
"create plan", "task plan", "working memory", "persistent plan", "file-backed planning"	plan-files.md (+ executor-ready-plan-template.md when plan targets SDD execution)	Plan-files
"check plan", "validate plan", "plan checker", "review plan", "is this plan ready", "pre-execution check"	check.md	Check
"list plans", "show plan", "complete plan", "plan status", "manage plans"	manage.md	Manage
"pause", "save progress", "handoff", "stopping for now", "end session", "session handoff", "wrap up session"	pause.md	Pause
"resume", "continue", "pick up where I left off", "what was I doing", "continue work", "where did I leave off", "what's next"	resume.md	Resume

Instructions

1. Identify the user's planning task from their message
2. Load the matching reference file from the table above
3. Follow the instructions in that reference file exactly