plan

name	plan
description	Solo-native planning workflow. Use when asked to "plan", "brainstorm", "design", "create a plan", "I want to build", or "let's build". Runs a scout, opens a planner that is interactive through approach selection, creates Solo todos, then automatically executes and reviews through Solo subagents and scratchpads.

Plan

Run a Solo-native planning workflow. Use Solo subagents, Solo scratchpads, and Solo todos.

Flow

1. Quick assessment in the parent session.
2. Spawn a Solo scout and wait for Solo to wake the parent.
3. Read the scout scratchpad.
4. Spawn an interactive Solo planner with the scout context.
5. When the planner has produced a plan, read the planner scratchpad and list the generated Solo todos.
6. Start executing todos sequentially with Solo workers without asking for additional confirmation.
7. Run a Solo reviewer and triage findings.

Solo subagents are asynchronous. After every subagent call, stop and wait for Solo to inject the wake-up turn. Do not poll, guess, or fabricate child results.

Phase 1: Quick Assessment

Spend about 30 seconds orienting:

ls -la
find . -maxdepth 3 -type f \( -name "*.ts" -o -name "*.tsx" -o -name "*.js" -o -name "*.py" -o -name "*.go" -o -name "*.rs" \) | head -40
cat package.json 2>/dev/null | head -60

Pick a short plan tag such as auth-redesign. Use that tag for scratchpad names and todo tags.

Phase 2: Scout

Always run a scout before the planner.

subagent({
  name: "Scout: <tag>",
  agent: "scout",
  scratchpad: true,
  task: `Scout for this planning request: <user request>

Focus on the files, patterns, conventions, tests, and gotchas a planner needs before designing the change.
Save your findings to your pre-created Solo scratchpad. Use tag: <tag>.`
})

Then stop. When Solo wakes the parent, read the scout scratchpad from the wake-up message with scratchpad_read.

Phase 3: Interactive Planner

Spawn the planner only after reading the scout findings.

Before spawning the planner, get this parent session's Solo process id so the planner can notify the parent after it finishes the plan and todos:

solo_tool({ action: "call", name: "whoami", arguments: {} })

Pass the returned process_id into the planner task as Parent Solo process id. If whoami is unavailable or the parent is not Solo-managed, say that parent notification is unavailable and omit that line.

subagent({
  name: "Planner: <tag>",
  agent: "planner",
  interactive: true,
  scratchpad: true,
  task: `Plan this request: <user request>

Plan tag: <tag>
Parent Solo process id: <parent process_id from whoami>
Scout scratchpad: <scratchpad name/id>
Scout findings:
<paste concise scout findings or provide the scratchpad id>

Work interactively with the user through the Phase 5 approach checkpoint only. After that, finish validation, premortem, final plan writing, and todo creation autonomously with no further user prompts. Save the final plan to your pre-created Solo scratchpad, create Solo todos tagged: <tag>, and notify the parent when the todos are ready.`
})

Tell the user to continue the planning conversation in the planner pane through the Phase 5 approach checkpoint. Explain that after that answer the planner will finish the plan and todos autonomously, return control to the parent, and the parent will start workers automatically. The first interactive wake-up only means the planner is waiting for the user; do not treat it as completion unless the planner scratchpad contains a final plan and the todos exist. When the planner later notifies the parent that todos are ready, read the planner scratchpad, list the tagged todos, and start execution automatically.

Phase 4: Review Plan and Todos, Then Auto-Start

When the planner finishes:

1. Read the plan scratchpad with scratchpad_read.
2. List todos with todo_list({ tags: ["<tag>"], completed: false }).
3. Summarize the plan, todo count, effort level, and key decisions.
4. Proceed immediately to Phase 5 execution.

Do not ask the user whether to execute after the planner returns. The planner completion handoff is the signal to start workers. If the planner scratchpad or todos are missing, stop and investigate instead of executing.

Progress Notifications

During execution, the parent/orchestrator should send human-facing progress notifications. Do not add notification work to worker or reviewer prompts.

Use Solo terminal notifications because Pi's own tool output does not trigger Solo's notification path. Before automatic execution starts, create one disposable notification terminal and keep its process id for the run:

solo_tool({
  action: "call",
  name: "spawn_process",
  arguments: { kind: "terminal", name: "Plan Notifications: <tag>" },
  reason: "create notification terminal for plan progress"
})

Send notifications through that terminal with OSC 777:

solo_tool({
  action: "call",
  name: "send_input",
  arguments: {
    process_id: <notification process_id>,
    input: "printf '\\033]777;notify;Solo Plan;Worker 1/5 done: <todo title>\\007'"
  },
  reason: "send plan progress notification"
})

Keep titles and bodies short. Before inserting dynamic todo titles, replace semicolons, newlines, and single quotes with spaces or plain punctuation so the shell command stays valid. If notification setup fails, continue the workflow and mention that notifications were unavailable.

Notify at these points:

• Execution starts: Starting execution: <N> todos.
• Each worker completes after its scratchpad and todo state have been checked: Worker <i>/<N> done: <todo title>.
• A worker is blocked or needs input: Worker <i>/<N> needs attention: <todo title>.
• Review starts: Starting review for <tag>.
• Review finishes and findings are triaged: Review finished for <tag>.
• Workflow completes: Plan complete: <tag>.

After the final completion notification, close the disposable notification terminal:

solo_tool({
  action: "call",
  name: "close_process",
  arguments: { process_id: <notification process_id> },
  reason: "close plan notification terminal"
})

Phase 5: Execute Todos

Start this phase immediately after the planner final artifacts are confirmed. Do not wait for further user input.

Run workers one todo at a time. Parallel workers in one git repo will conflict.

subagent({
  name: "Worker: <todo id>",
  agent: "worker",
  scratchpad: true,
  task: `Implement Solo todo <todo id>.

Plan scratchpad: <planner scratchpad id/name>
Scout scratchpad: <scout scratchpad id/name>
Plan tag: <tag>

Read the todo through solo_tool using gateway-only todo_get with include_comments: true, implement it, verify it, commit using the commit skill, save your result to your pre-created Solo scratchpad, and mark the todo complete.`
})

After each worker wake-up:

1. Read the worker scratchpad.
2. Check the todo through solo_tool using gateway-only todo_get.
3. If complete, send Worker <i>/<N> done: <todo title> through the notification terminal, then start the next worker.
4. If blocked or missing context, send Worker <i>/<N> needs attention: <todo title>, update the todo with todo_update to add the missing examples or constraints, then rerun a worker.

Phase 6: Review

After all implementation todos are complete, send Starting review for <tag> through the notification terminal, then run the reviewer:

subagent({
  name: "Reviewer: <tag>",
  agent: "reviewer",
  scratchpad: true,
  task: `Review the recent changes for plan tag <tag>.

Plan scratchpad: <planner scratchpad id/name>
Scout scratchpad: <scout scratchpad id/name>
Review the implementation commits and save your review to your pre-created Solo scratchpad.`
})

Read the reviewer scratchpad and triage:

• P0/P1: create or update Solo todos and run workers to fix.
• P2: fix if quick, otherwise note.
• P3: skip unless the user asks.

After triage, send Review finished for <tag>. When the full workflow is complete, send Plan complete: <tag> and close the disposable notification terminal.

Completion Checklist

Before reporting completion:

• Scout ran before planner.
• Scout scratchpad was read and passed to planner.
• Planner scratchpad contains the final plan.
• Todos are Solo todos tagged with the plan tag.
• Parent auto-started workers after planner completion without asking for execute confirmation.
• Workers ran sequentially.
• Each completed worker saved a Solo scratchpad artifact.
• Progress notifications were sent by the parent/orchestrator when the notification terminal was available.
• Relevant verification commands ran and outputs were checked.
• Commits were made with the commit skill when code changed.
• Reviewer ran and findings were triaged.