planning

name	planning
description	Systematic project planning and task decomposition. Use when starting a new feature, refactoring, debugging, or any multi-step task. Provides structured thinking frameworks, spec-first analysis, and staged implementation plans.
chains_with	["architecture","automated-learning"]

Planning Skill — Think Before You Code

Mandate

Before writing ANY code for a non-trivial task, you MUST produce a plan. This skill provides the frameworks for doing that effectively.

Trigger Conditions

Fire this skill when:

• User asks for a "plan" or "approach"
• Task involves 3+ files or 100+ lines of changes
• Task is ambiguous or underspecified
• User says "how should I..." or "what's the best way to..."
• Architectural decision is required

Process

Step 1: Requirements Clarification (2 min max)

• State your understanding in 2-3 sentences
• List 3-5 explicit requirements from the prompt
• List 2-3 assumptions you're making
• Ask 1 clarifying question if critical, otherwise proceed

Step 2: Impact Analysis

• Files that will be read (existing code to understand)
• Files that will be created
• Files that will be modified
• Files that will be deleted
• Dependencies affected
• Tests that need updating

Step 3: Implementation Plan

Format as a numbered step-by-step plan:

## Plan

### Phase 1: Foundation
1. [Action] → [Expected outcome]
2. [Action] → [Expected outcome]

### Phase 2: Core
3. [Action] → [Expected outcome]

### Phase 3: Polish
4. [Action] → [Expected outcome]
5. [Action] → [Expected outcome]

### Validation
- Test command: `...`
- Lint command: `...`
- Manual check: ...

Step 4: Risk Assessment

• What could break: Side effects of changes
• Mitigation: How to minimize damage
• Rollback: How to undo if needed

Step 5: Present & Wait

Show the plan to the user. Wait for confirmation before executing.

Templates

Bug Fix Template

Root Cause: [one sentence]
Fix Strategy: [one sentence]
Files: [list]
Test: [command to verify]

Feature Template

Goal: [one sentence]
Users: [who benefits]
Success: [how we know it works]
Components: [list new/modified]
Data Flow: [input → process → output]

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Planning in your head while coding
• ❌ Starting implementation without impact analysis
• ❌ Skipping test consideration
• ❌ Vague plans ("implement the feature")
• ❌ Ignoring rollback strategy for risky changes