plan-project

name

plan-project

description

Design or revise an evidence-gated project plan and executable Markdown plan using XMemo context and the live workspace. Use when starting a project, turning goals or a brainstorm into PROJECT_PLAN.md and EXECUTION_PLAN.md, decomposing work into phases and acceptance gates, assigning multi-agent ownership, or correcting a plan after review. Keep proposals distinct from approved decisions and implemented progress.

Plan Project with XMemo

Turn intent into reviewable, executable project artifacts. Follow discover → recall → frame → decompose → gate → write → approve → checkpoint.

1. Discover the planning surface

Inspect the live repository or project before designing the plan. Identify its canonical documentation location, existing plans, architecture, test and release commands, ownership conventions, and dirty-worktree boundaries. Do not invent commands, paths, capabilities, or completed work.

Clarify whether the request needs:

• a strategic project plan;
• an implementation or migration plan;
• a release or launch plan;
• a recovery plan for partially completed work;
• both a stable project plan and a changeable execution plan.

2. Recall relevant XMemo context

Use recall_context or get_project_context for goals, constraints, prior decisions, rejected approaches, known risks, acceptance criteria, and the latest verified state. Use search_memory for exact decisions or lessons. Treat memory as context to reconcile with the live workspace, not as proof.

3. Frame the project contract

Define:

• problem and desired outcome;
• users or stakeholders;
• in-scope and explicitly out-of-scope work;
• current verified baseline;
• constraints and invariants;
• success measures and acceptance evidence;
• assumptions, dependencies, and unresolved decisions.

Do not convert unresolved choices into silent assumptions. Track a material unresolved choice with create_pending_decision only after the user agrees it belongs in XMemo.

4. Decompose into executable work

Organize work into independently reviewable phases or workstreams. For each phase include:

• objective and rationale;
• exact scope and affected artifacts;
• dependencies and owner;
• ordered implementation steps;
• verification commands or evidence;
• acceptance gate and rollback or recovery path;
• handoff condition and next phase.

Prefer phases that can be completed, verified, and reviewed independently. Separate implementation, review, merge, deployment, and production verification as distinct states.

5. Design evidence gates

Every completion claim must name its evidence. Include a verification matrix mapping requirements to tests, inspection, review, deployment, or user acceptance. Add risk controls for security, privacy, compatibility, data loss, migration, and operational recovery when applicable.

Read references/plan-quality-gates.md before producing a formal project or execution plan.

6. Write the Markdown artifacts

Respect the repository's existing plan names and locations. When no convention exists and the user wants files, use:

• PROJECT_PLAN.md for stable purpose, scope, architecture, milestones, risks, and success criteria;
• EXECUTION_PLAN.md for ordered phases, task status, evidence gates, ownership, and exact next action.

Use assets/project-plan-template.md and assets/execution-plan-template.md as starting structures, adapting rather than copying irrelevant sections. Keep one authoritative source for each fact and link related artifacts instead of duplicating them.

7. Review before approval

Return a planning receipt containing files created or changed, unresolved decisions, assumptions, critical risks, first acceptance gate, and exact next action. Label the artifacts draft until the user or authorized reviewer approves them. Use /xmemo:review-plan for a formal independent review.

8. Preserve only the approved state

After approval:

• save durable plan decisions or constraints with remember or update_memory;
• resolve tracked choices with resolve_decision;
• create only concrete near-term actions with todo;
• save the active phase, verified baseline, blocker, and next action with update_state;
• record a material approval or phase transition with record_event.

Do not mirror the entire Markdown plan into XMemo, create a formal XMemo project without an explicit request, or mark planned work as implemented.

Read ../memory-steward/references/memory-policy.md, ../memory-steward/references/workflows.md, and ../memory-steward/references/tool-routing.md for write, checkpoint, and tool-routing rules.