Platonic Coding
Intelligent orchestrator for the complete specification-driven development lifecycle. Auto-detects the user's intent and project state, then executes the appropriate workflow phase—brainstorming, initialization, specification management, implementation, or review. Structured design exploration (formerly the standalone platonic-brainstorming skill) is built in as BRAINSTORM mode.
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when you need to:
- Brainstorm a design through collaborative dialogue before committing to an RFC
- Bootstrap a new project with Platonic Coding infrastructure
- Adopt Platonic Coding for an existing codebase (recover specs from code)
- Manage RFC specifications (validate, refine, generate indices)
- Implement features from RFC specs with guides and tests
- Review code for spec compliance
- Run the full workflow from design → RFC → code → review
Keywords: platonic coding, brainstorm, discuss, investigate, specs, RFC, implementation, review, workflow, spec-driven, initialization
Intelligent Auto-Detection
Auto-detects intent and project state when invoked without specific instructions. See references/REFERENCE.md for the full decision tree.
Intention Detection (runs first)
Before inspecting project state, scan the user's natural-language request for intent keywords that signal a desire to explore rather than immediately produce an artifact:
- Trigger words (case-insensitive):
brainstorm,discuss,investigate,explore,deep analysis,deep dive,think through,design exploration,trade-offs,what's the best approach. - Match → enter BRAINSTORM mode (
references/BRAINSTORM/brainstorm.md), regardless of project state. The user wants to explore first; project-state detection resumes at handoff. - Exception: if the request uses a canonical operation name (
impl-full,review,specs-refine,init-scaffold,workflow --phase <N>,brainstorm), the explicit operation wins — don't reroute it.
Project-State Detection (when no intent keywords)
Quick Reference:
- No
.platonic.yml→ INIT mode (scaffold new or recover existing) - RFCs but no guides → Phase 2 (implementation)
- Guides + code → Phase 3 (review) or resume Phase 2
Override with canonical operations: brainstorm, init-scaffold, init-scan, specs-refine, impl-full, review, workflow --phase <N>.
Core Workflow Phases
| Phase | Focus | Output | Brainstorming |
|-------|-------|--------|---------------|
| 1 | RFC Specification | Draft → RFC → specs-refine | ✅ Optional (BRAINSTORM mode) |
| 2 | Implementation | Guide → Code + Tests | ✅ Optional (BRAINSTORM mode) |
| 3 | Review | Compliance report | ❌ |
Phases run sequentially (full workflow) or independently (explicit invocation). BRAINSTORM mode is an optional entry ramp to Phases 1 and 2. See references/WORKFLOW/workflow-overview.md for details.
Operation Modes
BRAINSTORM Mode
Structured design exploration through collaborative dialogue. Produces an approved design draft (docs/drafts/), then presents post-draft alternative paths (see below). Entered by intent keywords, or explicitly. No code, RFC, or scaffolding is produced until the design is approved.
Examples: brainstorm the message queue design, discuss how auth should work, investigate options for caching.
INIT Mode
Bootstrap Platonic Coding infrastructure. Operations: init-scaffold, init-scan, init-plan-modular-specs, init-recover-*.
Examples: init-scaffold for project "Acme", init-scan then recover specs.
SPECS Mode
Manage RFC specifications. Operations: specs-refine (comprehensive), specs-generate-*, specs-validate-*, specs-check-*.
Examples: specs-refine, specs-generate-index.
IMPL Mode
Translate RFCs to guides and code. Operations: impl-full (default), impl-create-guide, impl-code, impl-validate-guide, impl-update-guide.
Confirmation Gates: Pauses after impl guide and coding plan. Override with "no confirmations".
Examples: impl-full for RFC-042, impl-code from IG-001.
REVIEW Mode
Validate code against specs. Generates report-only by default (no code changes). 6-step process: understand specs → checklist → map → review → discrepancies → report.
Examples: review src/auth/ against RFC-001, review for gap analysis.
WORKFLOW Mode
Orchestrate full 3-phase flow. See references/WORKFLOW/workflow-overview.md.
Examples: workflow --phase 1, workflow starting with brainstorm.
For detailed guides, see references/REFERENCE.md.
Post-Draft Alternative Paths
After BRAINSTORM mode produces an approved design draft, the skill does not assume "create a new RFC" is the only next step. It checks docs/specs/ and docs/impl/ for related existing RFCs/IGs, then presents a routing menu (full table in references/BRAINSTORM/brainstorm.md):
- Pause at each phase gate — careful, default; approve every confirmation gate
- Quick pass — run multiple phases straight through, no further confirmations (quick fixes)
- Update an existing RFC — revise a related RFC instead of spawning a new one
- Create a new RFC — formalize the draft into a fresh
RFC-NNN - Update an existing IG — refine an existing implementation guide via
impl-update-guide - Create a new IG — generate a fresh
IG-NNNviaimpl-create-guide
The menu leads with a recommendation based on what was found. The user picks by number; each path maps to existing canonical operations.
Default Paths & Templates
| Artifact | Path | Naming |
|----------|------|--------|
| Drafts | docs/drafts/ | YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md |
| RFCs | docs/specs/ | RFC-NNN-<name>.md |
| Guides | docs/impl/ | IG-NNN-<name>.md |
Templates in assets/ use {{PLACEHOLDER}} syntax.
Best Practices
- Trust auto-detection; override with explicit operations when needed
- Review generated artifacts (all Draft status)
- Run
specs-refineregularly - Use confirmation gates—don't skip unless confident (or use quick-pass routing)
- Review mode is report-only by default
Dependencies
- Read/write to project directories
- Access to
.platonic.yml - Understanding of target language/framework