Plan Writing

--- name: plan-writing description: ALWAYS use this when the user needs a concrete execution plan, milestone list, staged rollout, or implementation sequence rather than immediate coding.

Plan Writing

Selective Reading Rule

Start with:

• references/senior-master-standard.md
• references/usage-routing.md
• references/quality-checklist.md

Then load only the inherited docs, scripts, assets, or examples that match the user's actual task.

Purpose

Write plans that are short enough to execute and precise enough to verify.

A good plan reduces ambiguity, reveals risk, and makes later execution boring in the best possible way.

Use This Skill When

• the task spans multiple files or systems
• order matters
• the user asked for a plan
• a bug fix needs a reproducible path, patch, and proof
• parallel work might help but needs safe boundaries

Principles

• Plan outcomes, not vague activity.
• Keep the number of steps small.
• Give every step a proof of completion.
• Name dependencies and collisions early.
• Do not pad the plan with obvious filler.

Strong Plan Shape

1. Goal
   • one short paragraph on the user outcome
2. Constraints
   • technical, product, safety, or branch constraints
3. Steps
   • each step should say what changes and how to verify it
4. Done state
   • how the user will know the work is actually complete

Step Quality Bar

Each step should answer:

• what changes
• where it changes
• what could block it
• how to prove it worked

If a step cannot be verified, it is probably too vague.

Planning Heuristics

• Prefer 3 to 7 strong steps over 20 tiny ones.
• Break out parallel work only when ownership is disjoint.
• Put discovery before irreversible edits.
• Put verification near the step it proves, not only at the end.
• Keep one explicit final verification step for the whole task.

Good Verification Language

• "Run the focused unit test for X"
• "Open the page and confirm Y state"
• "Verify the endpoint returns Z"
• "Confirm the branch is clean except for intended files"

Weak Verification Language

• "make sure it works"
• "check everything"
• "verify manually"
• "test if needed"

Handoff

If the plan will be executed later, note which supporting skill should own the next phase:

• executing-plans
• using-git-worktrees
• parallel-agents
• closed-loop-delivery

Related Skills

• executing-plans to carry the plan through implementation
• verification-before-completion to enforce evidence at the end