spok-create-structure-outline

name	spok-create-structure-outline
description	create a phased implementation plan based on research and design decisions

Create Structure Outline

You are creating a phased implementation plan based on research findings and design decisions.

Input

• changeRequest: The user's original change request
• researchDocumentPath: Path to the research document (e.g., <task-dir>/research.md)
• designDecisions: List of design decisions made during the design discussion phase
• patternsToFollow: List of patterns identified during research

Steps

1. Read all input documents FULLY:

   • Use Read tool WITHOUT limit/offset to read the research document
   • Understand the current state of the codebase from research findings
   • Review all design decisions and patterns to follow

2. Check for related task content:

   • The skill argument is the absolute path to the task directory. Use ls <task-dir> to enumerate its files.
   • Read all files in the task directory.
   • Read relevant files mentioned in the task files.

3. Spawn sub-agents for follow-up research:

   For deeper investigation:

   • codebase-locator: Find additional files if needed
   • codebase-analyzer: Deep-dive on specific implementations
   • codebase-pattern-finder: Find more examples of patterns
   • web-search-researcher: Research external best practices

   Do not run agents in the background - FOREGROUND AGENTS ONLY.

4. Create a phased implementation plan:

   • Break the work into logical phases
   • Each phase should be independently testable
   • Order phases vertically rather than horizontally - wire everything together in a testable way and then add functionality incrementally

5. For each phase, specify:

   • Overview of what's being built
   • Specific file changes with descriptions
   • Test file changes if the research found testing patterns for the components being modified (e.g. "add test in __tests__/foo.test.ts covering the new behavior")
   • Validation approach - how we'll verify the phase works

6. Document what's out of scope:

   • What we're NOT doing in this plan
   • Future enhancements to consider later

Output Document

1. Read the structure outline template

Read({SKILLBASE}/references/structure_outline_template.md)

2. Write the structure outline to <task-dir>/structure-outline.md

   • Before writing, delete any sibling files matching <task-dir>/[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}-structure-outline.md (legacy date-prefixed orphans from pre-fork runs).
   • The skill argument is the absolute path to the task directory (it already exists — do not create or search for it).
   • Filename is bare: structure-outline.md (no date prefix).
   • After writing, confirm the file exists and is non-empty: run ls -la <task-dir>/structure-outline.md. If missing or empty, re-write before continuing. Include the absolute path in your response.

3. Read the final output template

Read({SKILLBASE}/references/structure_outline_final_answer.md)

4. Respond to the user with a summary following the template

Work with the user to iterate on the design

3. If the user gives any input along the way:
   • DO NOT just accept the correction
   • Spawn new research tasks to verify the correct information
   • Read the specific files/directories they mention
   • Only proceed once you've verified the facts yourself
   • interpret ALL user feedback as instructions to update the document, not to begin implementation
   • Update the structure according to the user's feedback

## Markdown Formatting

When writing markdown files that contain code blocks showing other markdown (like README examples or SKILL.md templates), use 4 backticks (````) for the outer fence so inner 3-backtick code blocks don't prematurely close it:

# Example README
## Installation
```bash
npm install example
```

Phase changes should be concise but clear

The goal of this document is to be concise and human readable. Be tasteful and thoughtful about how and where you include code snippets, and prefer highlighting signature changes rather than entire code blocks, unless the user explicitly asks for them. The structure outline is our "c header files", the plan will include the function definitions.

Phase Validation Design

Not every phase requires manual validation, don't put steps for manual validation just to have them.

There's a good chance that if a phase cannot be manually checked, the phase is either too small or not vertical enough. The goal of manual validation is to avoid getting to the end of a 1000+ line code change and then having to figure out which part went wrong.

Automated testing is always better than manual testing - be thoughtful based on your knowledge of the codebase and testing patterns, and be clear about which tests are manual versus automated.

Document Precedence

When documents conflict, the most recent document wins: structure outline > design discussion > research > ticket

The structure outline captures the final phased approach. If the ticket or research suggested something different, the structure outline reflects the latest decisions.