plan

name	plan
description	Structured planning session for a new feature or change. Creates a dedicated plan file, drafts options with build cost/friction/payoff ratings, tracks the decision live. Triggers on "plan [feature]", "I want to build X", "design X", "plan mode", "thinking about building".
model	claude-opus-4-6
effort	high
allowed-tools	Read, Edit, Write, Glob, Grep, Bash

Skill: plan

Trigger: "plan [feature]" · "I want to build X" · "design X" · "plan mode" · "thinking about building X"

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Steps

Step 1 — Open or create the plan file

• Derive a slug from the feature name: lowercase, hyphens (e.g. your-journey, email-throttle)
• Check if [MEM]/plans/[slug].md already exists
  • Yes → read it, display the full file, skip to Step 4
  • No → copy [MEM]/plans/_template.md to [MEM]/plans/[slug].md, fill in Feature Name + Created date + Project name
• [MEM] = .claude/memory/ relative to project root

Step 2 — Understand the problem

Ask or infer from context:

• What problem does this solve?
• Who is it for?
• What does "this worked" look like for the user?

Write answers into the Problem section. Display the full plan.

Step 3 — Research before drafting

Before writing a single option:

• Grep the codebase for any existing related functionality
• Read [MEM]/decisions.md — any settled decisions that apply?
• Read [MEM]/tasks/regret.md — any rejected approaches to avoid re-proposing?

Surface anything relevant inline: "Found existing X in file Y — Option A could build on this."

Step 4 — Draft options

Generate 2–4 distinct options. For each:

• Give it a clear name (e.g. "Passive Timeline", "Full Write Surface", "Email Only")
• Rate on three axes: Build cost (Low/Medium/High), User friction (None/Low/Medium/High), Payoff (Low/Medium/High)
• Write 2–3 lines of notes — what it does, key trade-off
• End with a Build cost comparison table

Write to the Options section. Display the full plan.

Step 5 — Decision

Ask which option the user wants, or if they want to defer.

User says	Action
Picks an option	Mark decision, update Status → Ready to Code, log rationale. Immediately append to [MEM]/decisions.md.
"Not sure" / "Later"	Leave Decision unchecked, Status stays Draft. List open questions explicitly.
"Not building this"	Status → On Hold. Note why in Alternatives Considered.

Display the full plan.

Step 6 — Technical spec + Blast Radius (only if Ready to Code)

Fill in the Technical Spec section:

• SQL changes (ALTER TABLE, CREATE TABLE)
• Files to change — ordered table with file + what changes
• New endpoints / API shape
• Any open questions that must be resolved before the first line of code

Then fill in the Blast Radius — required before any code is touched:

Field	What to write
Files touched	Every file that will change — no omissions
Lines changed	Count from the before/after described above — not a guess
Type	Logic change · Refactor (no behavior change) · Config/data only
Affected at runtime	What breaks if this goes wrong — be specific
Rollback	Exact steps to undo — what to do if the user says "revert this"

If any Blast Radius field is "unknown" — that is an open question. Resolve it before proceeding.

Display the full plan.

Step 7 — Open questions sweep

Review everything written. Add any unresolved questions to the Open Questions checklist. State explicitly: "N open questions before this is ready to code."

Step 8 — Update MEMORY.md plans index

Add or update the entry in [MEM]/MEMORY.md:

- [Plan: feature-name](plans/feature-name.md) — Status: Draft/Ready/On Hold — one-line summary

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Auto-display rule

After every step that writes to the plan file — read it back and display the full file contents. Never show a diff or summary. Always the full plan. This is not optional.

Closing message

Status	Message
Ready to Code	"Plan complete. N open questions resolved. Say 'Start coding [feature]' when ready. When coding is done, move this file to plans/archive/ to keep plans/ clean."
Draft	"Plan saved. N open questions remain — resolve before coding."
On Hold	"Plan saved as On Hold. Revisit when ready."

Auto-Chain

• Status = Ready to Code and user says "start coding" → hand off to search-first skill
• Status = Draft with 0 open questions → prompt: "All questions resolved — ready to mark Ready to Code?"