deep-planning

name

deep-planning

description

Use when Codex is in Plan Mode for non-trivial, ambiguous, architectural, multi-step, high-risk, or orchestration-bound work; when reviewing a plan before coding; or when the user asks to think deeply, challenge assumptions, do adversarial planning, or choose between Codex-only, native Codex subagents, Superpowers, and OpenSpec. Do not use for tiny edits, simple command-output checks, pure execution, post-code verification, or full Superpowers design-doc workflows.

Deep Planning

Use this skill to raise Plan Mode quality before a plan is accepted. It is an adversarial critique gate, not an execution workflow.

Boundaries

• Do not edit or write files, create issues, dispatch workers, refresh schedulers, mutate external systems, or run implementation steps from this skill.
• Do not write docs/superpowers/ artifacts. Superpowers owns design docs, implementation plans, execution, TDD, and completion verification.
• Do not replace superpowers:brainstorming when the user wants a full collaborative design/spec workflow. Use this skill only to critique and route Plan Mode work.
• For tiny edits, simple command-output checks, pure execution, or post-code verification, skip the full protocol and answer directly.

Protocol

1. Ground the plan. Gather observed facts before asking questions. Read the minimal files, docs, memory, or tool output needed to avoid guessing.
2. Name assumptions and unknowns. Separate observed facts from assumptions. Ask only material questions whose answers would change architecture, scope, risk, or routing.
3. Draft the strongest plan. Prefer a simple, surgical plan with explicit goals, non-goals, constraints, affected surfaces, and verification.
4. Run adversarial review. Challenge the draft across the review axes below. Assume the plan is wrong somewhere and find where.
5. Revise or block. Fix the plan inline when the answer is inferable. Ask the user only when a material unknown remains.
6. Route execution. End by choosing the next lane: Codex-only, native Codex subagents, Superpowers, or OpenSpec.

Adversarial Review Axes

• Product value: Does the plan solve the real user goal, or only the stated implementation idea? What would be wasteful?
• Architecture: Are boundaries, dependencies, data flow, and ownership coherent with the existing system?
• Implementation risk: What is likely to fail first? Which assumptions are brittle, expensive, or hard to reverse?
• Edge cases: What missing states, permissions, concurrency, migration, or platform cases could break the plan?
• Tests: What failing test or deterministic check proves the plan is right? What evidence would be weak or misleading?
• Rollout: How will the change be introduced, verified, reverted, or handed off without surprising the user?
• Scope: What should be cut, deferred, or split so the plan stays small and reviewable?

Routing

• Codex-only: Use for tiny edits, one bugfix, one review, fast debugging, or single-session exploration.
• Native Codex subagents: Use when the revised plan has independent, testable subtasks that can run in parallel within the current task.
• Superpowers: Use when the task needs collaborative brainstorming, a written implementation plan, TDD execution, subagent-driven development, or verification-before-completion.
• OpenSpec: Use when the work benefits from durable requirements, acceptance criteria, or multi-agent/spec governance before implementation.

Output Contract

For non-trivial Plan Mode work, use this exact section sequence unless the current conversation format requires something stricter. Do not skip Strongest Plan even when the revised plan is similar; the critique needs a clear target.

• Observed Facts: Brief source-backed facts gathered before planning.
• Assumptions / Unknowns: Assumptions you are making and any material question that remains.
• Strongest Plan: The best current plan before critique.
• Adversarial Review: The most important objections and failure modes.
• Revised Plan / Routing: The final plan and the chosen execution lane.

For tiny Plan Mode prompts, keep the answer short and skip formal sections.