Creates structured plans from requirements. Generates comprehensive plans with steps, dependencies, risks, and success criteria. Coordinates with specialist agents for planning input and validates plan completeness. Uses template-renderer for formatted output.
Creates structured plans from requirements. Generates comprehensive plans with steps, dependencies, risks, and success criteria. Coordinates with specialist agents for planning input and validates plan completeness. Uses template-renderer for formatted output.
["Coordinate with Analyst, PM, Architect for planning input","Break down requirements into actionable steps (<=7 per section)","Identify dependencies and sequencing","Assess risks with mitigation strategies","Validate plan completeness and feasibility","Use template-renderer for formatted plan output"]
error_handling
graceful
streaming
supported
related_skills
["template-renderer","writing-plans"]
verified
false
lastVerifiedAt
"2026-02-19T05:29:09.098Z"
source
builtin
trust_score
100
provenance_sha
7455ae00951a0074
Plan Generator Skill
Plan Generator Skill - Creates structured, validated plans from requirements by coordinating with specialist agents and generating comprehensive planning artifacts.
- Creating plans for new features
- Planning refactoring efforts
- Planning system migrations
- Planning architecture changes
- Breaking down complex requirements
- Validating existing plans
Every plan emitted by plan-generator MUST contain exactly these 6 top-level sections in this exact order:
## Problem — why this work matters; the pain point or gap being addressed
## Decision — what is being done; the chosen approach (not the steps, just the choice)
## Scope — what is IN scope; explicitly list what is OUT of scope
## Risks — what could go wrong; include mitigations and rollback commands
## Steps — ordered implementation checklist using - [ ] task format
## Done Criteria — acceptance criteria; objective conditions that prove the work is complete
Rules:
All 6 sections MUST be present — plans missing any section are invalid
Sections MUST appear in the order listed above — reordering is invalid
Each section must have substantive content (not a placeholder like "TBD")
Sub-sections and additional detail are allowed within each section
The pre-completion-validation hook enforces this order at task completion (severity: warning)
Why fixed order? AI-generated plans frequently reorder sections or omit scope/risks, causing incomplete execution. Fixed ordering enables automated validation and catches AI-slopped plans before they reach execution.
Iron Laws
ALWAYS include an executable command in every task — a task without a command is a wish, not an action; plans with wishes stall at execution because agents have nothing to run.
NEVER create a phase with more than 7 tasks — phases exceeding 7 tasks cause cognitive overload, lose parallel opportunities, and make rollback scoping impossible.
ALWAYS include a verification gate between every phase — proceeding without verification means failures in Phase N are discovered in Phase N+3, making rollback exponentially more complex.
NEVER generate a plan without explicit rollback commands for destructive operations — a plan without rollback paths is unrecoverable; rollback must be specified before the operation is attempted.
ALWAYS coordinate specialist input (Analyst, PM, Architect) before finalizing a plan — plans generated without domain expert review routinely miss implicit requirements, producing incomplete execution paths.
ALWAYS include a mandatory "Final: Self-review + token report" task as the LAST task in every plan — without this task, pipelines complete without cost visibility or quality self-assessment, and post-pipeline hooks never trigger.
ALWAYS emit the 6 canonical sections (Problem → Decision → Scope → Risks → Steps → Done Criteria) in exactly that order — plans with missing or reordered sections are rejected by pre-completion-validation.
MANDATORY FINAL TASK (IRON LAW — NEVER SKIP)
Every plan MUST include this as the LAST task, blocked by all other tasks:
Task: "Final: Self-review + token report"
Description: "Run ccusage to display today's token/cost (npx ccusage@latest --model --today). Then self-review: Can I improve any deliverable from this pipeline? If yes, create a reflection via reflection-spawn-request.json. NEVER dismiss failures as pre-existing. Mark metadata.isFinalTask = true and metadata.pipelineComplete = true in TaskUpdate(completed)."
This task is NEVER optional. It is part of every plan regardless of complexity.
The task must set metadata.isFinalTask = true so post-pipeline hooks trigger.
Example TaskCreate for planners to emit:
TaskCreate({
subject: "Final: Self-review + token report",
description: "1. Run: npx ccusage@latest --model --today — display token costs\n2. Self-review all deliverables: Can I improve this?\n3. If improvements found, queue reflection-spawn-request\n4. NEVER dismiss failures as pre-existing\n5. TaskUpdate(completed, { metadata: { isFinalTask: true, pipelineComplete: true } })",
activeForm: "Running self-review and token report"
})
Rules
The Iron Law of Planning
EVERY TASK MUST HAVE AN EXECUTABLE COMMAND
A task without a command is not a task - it's a wish.
Mandatory Elements
Every task must have: checkbox, ID, time estimate, command, verify
Every phase must have: verification gate, error handling
Every risk must have: rollback command
Anti-Patterns (DO NOT)
Anti-Pattern
Problem
Fix
"Install X" without command
Not executable
Add: cp -r source dest
"Verify Y works"
Vague
Add: npm test | grep PASS
"Update Z"
What file? What change?
Add exact Edit or sed command
No time estimates
Can't track progress
Add (~X min) to every task
No rollback
Can't recover from failure
Add rollback command
Quality Checklist
Before finalizing any plan, verify:
Can I copy-paste every command and run it?
Does every verify command have a clear pass/fail output?
Does each task have a verify command that proves completion objectively?
Does each task have a done criteria that is measurable and unambiguous?
Is there a rollback for every destructive operation?
Are time estimates realistic and granular?
Are parallel tasks marked with ⚡?
Template Integration
This skill uses the template-renderer skill to generate formatted plans:
Integration Flow:
plan-generator creates structured plan data (JSON)
