Agent Skills: plan

[IMPORTANT] Use TaskCreate to break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks for each file read. This prevents context loss from long files. For simple tasks, AI MUST ATTENTION ask user whether to skip.

Understand Code First — HARD-GATE: Do NOT write, plan, or fix until you READ existing code.

1. Search 3+ similar patterns (grep/glob) — cite file:line evidence
2. Read existing files in target area — understand structure, base classes, conventions
3. Run python .claude/scripts/code_graph trace <file> --direction both --json when .code-graph/graph.db exists
4. Map dependencies via connections or callers_of — know what depends on your target
5. Write investigation to .ai/workspace/analysis/ for non-trivial tasks (3+ files)
6. Re-read analysis file before implementing — never work from memory alone
7. NEVER invent new patterns when existing ones work — match exactly or document deviation

BLOCKED until: - [ ] Read target files - [ ] Grep 3+ patterns - [ ] Graph trace (if graph.db exists) - [ ] Assumptions verified with evidence

• docs/project-reference/domain-entities-reference.md — Domain entity catalog, relationships, cross-service sync (read when task involves business entities/models) (content auto-injected by hook — check for [Injected: ...] header before reading)

Rationalization Prevention — AI skips steps via these evasions. Recognize and reject:

| Evasion | Rebuttal | | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | "Too simple for a plan" | Simple + wrong assumptions = wasted time. Plan anyway. | | "I'll test after" | RED before GREEN. Write/verify test first. | | "Already searched" | Show grep evidence with file:line. No proof = no search. | | "Just do it" | Still need TaskCreate. Skip depth, never skip tracking. | | "Just a small fix" | Small fix in wrong location cascades. Verify file:line first. | | "Code is self-explanatory" | Future readers need evidence trail. Document anyway. | | "Combine steps to save time" | Combined steps dilute focus. Each step has distinct purpose. |

Estimation — Modified Fibonacci: 1(trivial) → 2(small) → 3(medium) → 5(large) → 8(very large) → 13(epic, SHOULD split) → 21(MUST ATTENTION split). Output story_points and complexity in plan frontmatter. Complexity auto-derived: 1-2=Low, 3-5=Medium, 8=High, 13+=Critical.

• docs/test-specs/ — Test specifications by module (read existing TCs to include test strategy in plan)

Plan Quality — Every plan phase MUST ATTENTION include test specifications.

1. Add ## Test Specifications section with TC-{FEAT}-{NNN} IDs to every phase file
2. Map every functional requirement to ≥1 TC (or explicit TBD with rationale)
3. TC IDs follow TC-{FEATURE}-{NNN} format — reference by ID, never embed full content
4. Before any new workflow step: call TaskList and re-read the phase file
5. On context compaction: call TaskList FIRST — never create duplicate tasks
6. Verify TC satisfaction per phase before marking complete (evidence must be file:line, not TBD)

Mode: TDD-first → reference existing TCs with Evidence: TBD. Implement-first → use TBD → /tdd-spec fills after.

Iterative Phase Quality — Score complexity BEFORE planning.

Complexity signals: >5 files +2, cross-service +3, new pattern +2, DB migration +2 Score >=6 → MUST ATTENTION decompose into phases. Each phase:

• ≤5 files modified
• ≤3h effort
• Follows cycle: plan → implement → review → fix → verify
• Do NOT start Phase N+1 until Phase N passes VERIFY

Phase success = all TCs pass + code-reviewer agent approves + no CRITICAL findings.

Before routing, assess complexity score. Score >=3 → plan MUST ATTENTION produce multiple phases with per-phase quality cycles.

Quick Summary

Goal: Intelligently create implementation plans by analyzing task complexity and routing to /plan-fast or /plan-hard.

Workflow:

1. Analyze — Understand task, ask clarifying questions via AskUserQuestion
2. Route — Decide /plan-fast (simple) or /plan-hard (complex) based on scope
3. Create — Execute chosen plan variant, write plan to plans/ directory
4. Validate — Offer /plan-review and /plan-validate for quality assurance

Key Rules:

• PLANNING-ONLY: never implement, never use EnterPlanMode tool
• Parent skill for all plan-* variants (plan-fast, plan-hard, plan-ci, plan-cro, plan-two, plan-parallel)
• Always collaborate with user; ask decision questions, present options
• Always add final /plan-validate and /plan-review tasks

Greenfield Mode

Auto-detected: If no existing codebase is found (no code directories like src/, app/, lib/, server/, packages/, etc., no manifest files like package.json/*.sln/go.mod, no populated project-config.json), this skill switches to greenfield mode automatically. Planning artifacts (docs/, plans/, .claude/) don't count — the project must have actual code directories with content.

When greenfield is detected:

1. ALWAYS route to /plan-hard — greenfield planning requires deep research, never fast plans
2. Skip "MUST ATTENTION READ project-structure-reference.md" step (file won't exist or is placeholder)
3. Enable web research for tech landscape analysis (WebSearch + WebFetch)
4. Delegate architecture decisions to solution-architect agent
5. Increase user interview frequency (AskUserQuestion at each major decision)
6. If /greenfield workflow is not already active, suggest it via AskUserQuestion:
   • "Activate Greenfield Project Init workflow (Recommended)" — full waterfall inception
   • "Continue with standalone /plan-hard" — planning only, no full workflow

Be skeptical. Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence percentages (Idea should be more than 80%).

Variant Decision Guide

| If the task is... | Use | Why | | -------------------------------- | -------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | Simple, clear scope (<5 files) | /plan-fast | Lightweight plan, faster output | | Complex, multi-layer, many files | /plan-hard | Deep research, comprehensive plan | | CI/CD pipeline changes | /plan-ci | CI-specific context and validation | | Cross-cutting refactor | /plan-cro | Cross-service impact analysis | | Parallel implementation possible | /plan-parallel | Splits plan into parallelizable phases | | Two competing approaches | /plan-two | Creates 2 plans for comparison | | Analyzing existing plan | /plan-analysis | Reviews/critiques an existing plan | | Archiving completed plan | /plan-archive | Moves plan to archive | | General/unknown | /plan (this skill) | Routes automatically |

PLANNING-ONLY — Collaboration Required

DO NOT use the EnterPlanMode tool — you are ALREADY in a planning workflow. DO NOT implement or execute any code changes. COLLABORATE with the user: ask decision questions, present options with recommendations. After plan creation, ALWAYS use AskUserQuestion tool to offer /plan-review validation. ASK user to confirm the plan before any next step.

Your mission

Pre-Creation Check (Active vs Suggested Plan Detection)

Check the ## Plan Context section in the injected context:

• If "Plan:" shows a path → Active plan exists. Ask user: "Active plan found: {path}. Continue with this? [Y/n]"
• If "Suggested:" shows a path → Branch-matched plan hint only. Ask user if they want to activate it or create new.
• If "Plan: none" → Proceed to create new plan using naming pattern from ## Naming section.

Workflow

• Analyze the given task and use AskUserQuestion tool to ask for more details if needed.
• Decide to use /plan-fast or /plan-hard SlashCommands based on the complexity.
• Execute SlashCommand: /plan-fast <detailed-instructions-prompt> or /plan-hard <detailed-instructions-prompt>
• Activate planning skill.
• Note: detailed-instructions-prompt is an enhanced prompt that describes the task in detail based on the provided task description.

IMPORTANT Task Planning Notes (MUST ATTENTION FOLLOW)

• Always plan and break work into many small todo tasks using TaskCreate
• Always add a final review todo task to verify work quality and identify fixes/enhancements
• MANDATORY FINAL TASKS: After creating all planning todo tasks, ALWAYS add these three final tasks:
  1. Task: "Write test specifications for each phase" — Add ## Test Specifications with TC-{FEAT}-{NNN} IDs to every phase file. Use /tdd-spec if feature docs exist. Use Evidence: TBD for TDD-first mode.
  2. Task: "Run /plan-validate" — Trigger /plan-validate skill to interview the user with critical questions and validate plan assumptions
  3. Task: "Run /plan-review" — Trigger /plan-review skill to auto-review plan for validity, correctness, and best practices

Important Notes

IMPORTANT: Analyze the skills catalog and activate the skills that are needed for the task during the process. IMPORTANT: Sacrifice grammar for the sake of concision when writing reports. IMPORTANT: Ensure token efficiency while maintaining high quality. IMPORTANT: In reports, list any unresolved questions at the end, if any.

REMINDER — Planning-Only Command

DO NOT use EnterPlanMode tool. DO NOT start implementing. ALWAYS use AskUserQuestion tool to offer /plan-review validation after plan creation. ASK user to confirm the plan before any implementation begins. ASK user decision questions using AskUserQuestion tool when multiple approaches exist.

Standalone Review Gate (Non-Workflow Only)

MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION: If this skill is called outside a workflow (standalone /plan), the generated plan MUST ATTENTION include /review-changes as a final phase/task in the plan. This ensures all implementation changes get reviewed before commit even without a workflow enforcing it.

If already running inside a workflow (e.g., feature, bugfix), skip this — the workflow sequence handles /review-changes at the appropriate step.

Workflow Recommendation

MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION — NO EXCEPTIONS: If you are NOT already in a workflow, you MUST ATTENTION use AskUserQuestion to ask the user. Do NOT judge task complexity or decide this is "simple enough to skip" — the user decides whether to use a workflow, not you:

1. Activate pre-development workflow (Recommended) — quality-gate → plan → plan-review → plan-validate
2. Execute /plan directly — run this skill standalone

Post-Plan Granularity Self-Check (MANDATORY)

Plan Granularity — Every phase must pass 5-point check before implementation:

1. Lists exact file paths to modify (not generic "implement X")
2. No planning verbs (research, investigate, analyze, determine, figure out)
3. Steps ≤30min each, phase total ≤3h
4. ≤5 files per phase
5. No open decisions or TBDs in approach

Failing phases → create sub-plan. Repeat until ALL leaf phases pass (max depth: 3). Self-question: "Can I start coding RIGHT NOW? If any step needs 'figuring out' → sub-plan it."

After creating all phase files, run the recursive decomposition loop:

1. Score each phase against the 5-point criteria (file paths, no planning verbs, ≤30min steps, ≤5 files, no open decisions)
2. For each FAILING phase → create task to decompose it into a sub-plan (with its own /plan → /plan-review → /plan-validate → fix cycle)
3. Re-score new phases. Repeat until ALL leaf phases pass (max depth: 3)
4. Self-question: "For each phase, can I start coding RIGHT NOW? If any needs 'figuring out' → sub-plan it."

Next Steps (Standalone: MUST ATTENTION ask user via AskUserQuestion. Skip if inside workflow.)

MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION — NO EXCEPTIONS: If this skill was called outside a workflow, you MUST ATTENTION use AskUserQuestion to present these options. Do NOT skip because the task seems "simple" or "obvious" — the user decides:

• "Proceed with full workflow (Recommended)" — I'll detect the best workflow to continue from here (plan created). This ensures review, validation, implementation, and testing steps aren't skipped.
• "/plan-review" — Auto-review plan for validity and best practices
• "/plan-validate" — Interview user to confirm plan decisions
• "Skip, continue manually" — user decides

If already inside a workflow, skip — the workflow handles sequencing.

Closing Reminders

• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION break work into small todo tasks using TaskCreate BEFORE starting
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION search codebase for 3+ similar patterns before creating new code
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION cite file:line evidence for every claim (confidence >80% to act)
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION add a final review todo task to verify work quality
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION include Test Specifications section and story_points in plan frontmatter <!-- SYNC:plan-granularity:reminder -->
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION verify all phases pass 5-point granularity check. Failing phases → sub-plan. "Can I start coding RIGHT NOW?" <!-- /SYNC:plan-granularity:reminder --> <!-- SYNC:understand-code-first:reminder -->
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION search 3+ existing patterns and read code BEFORE any modification. Run graph trace when graph.db exists. <!-- /SYNC:understand-code-first:reminder --> <!-- SYNC:rationalization-prevention:reminder -->
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION follow ALL steps regardless of perceived simplicity. "Too simple to plan" is an evasion, not a reason. <!-- /SYNC:rationalization-prevention:reminder --> <!-- SYNC:estimation-framework:reminder -->
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION include story_points and complexity in plan frontmatter. SP > 8 = split. <!-- /SYNC:estimation-framework:reminder --> <!-- SYNC:plan-quality:reminder -->
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION include ## Test Specifications with TC IDs per phase. Call TaskList before creating new tasks. <!-- /SYNC:plan-quality:reminder --> <!-- SYNC:iterative-phase-quality:reminder -->
• MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION score complexity first. Score >=6 → decompose. Each phase: plan → implement → review → fix → verify. No skipping. <!-- /SYNC:iterative-phase-quality:reminder -->