plan-and-solve

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.