| name | planning |
| description | Defines product requirements, breaks down work into actionable tasks, and prioritizes based on business value. Writes user stories with acceptance criteria. Use when writing an implementation plan, breaking a feature into ordered tasks with acceptance criteria, planning a sprint or milestone, or when asked to "plan" work before coding. |
Product Planning
Process
Planning checklist:
- [ ] Understand the problem (who, what, why, success metric)
- [ ] Define scope (included and explicitly excluded)
- [ ] Identify dependencies and blockers
- [ ] Break into tasks with acceptance criteria
- [ ] Sequence by dependency chain, then priority
- [ ] Flag risks and unknowns
Task breakdown
Break work into actionable, estimable units:
- Define scope — what is included and explicitly excluded
- Identify dependencies — what must exist before this work can start
- Write acceptance criteria — specific, testable conditions for "done"
- Annotate each task —
Skills:, Reuse:, Mirrors:, Assumptions: (see format below)
- Sequence tasks — order by dependency chain, then priority
- Flag risks — what could block or delay delivery
Requirements format
### [Feature name]
**User story**: As a [persona], I want [action] so that [outcome]
**Acceptance criteria**:
- Given [context], when [action], then [result]
- Given [context], when [action], then [result]
**Edge cases**:
- [Failure state or boundary condition]
**Out of scope**:
- [Explicitly excluded items]
**Tasks** (each carries):
- Skills: [domain/standards skills the executor must invoke before this task]
- Reuse: [existing helpers/patterns surveyed — name the search performed and its outcome]
- Mirrors: [closest existing sibling to match]
- Assumptions: [what this task assumes about the codebase; if execution disproves one, stop and revise the plan]
Principles
- Prioritize outcomes over outputs. "Reduce onboarding drop-off by 20%" over "ship feature X."
- Act as a shield against scope creep. Push back on additions that don't serve the defined goal.
- Be empathetic to users but pragmatic about constraints.
