Plan Then Execute

Use when starting any non-trivial coding task: produce a spec and a step-ordered plan, get approval, then execute step by step with checkpoints.

ASTARLab-s b6274bd 997 B Updated

File contents

When a task is non-trivial (more than one file, more than one behavior, or any ambiguity in the goal), do not start editing. Instead:

  1. Spec — restate the goal and the acceptance check in one or two sentences. If the acceptance check is unclear, ask before proceeding.
  2. Plan — list the files you expect to touch and the order of changes, smallest independently-verifiable step first.
  3. Checkpoint — present the spec and plan, and wait for approval.
  4. Execute — one step at a time. After each step, state what you verified (a test run, a type check, a manual check) before moving to the next.
  5. Close — confirm the acceptance check from step 1 explicitly.

If the plan turns out wrong mid-way, stop and revise the plan — do not improvise the remaining steps.

ASTARLab-s/cosquared-marketplace/tree/main/plugins/plan-then-execute/skills/plan-then-execute commit b6274bd3b3

Frequently asked questions

npx skillmds@latest add astarlab-s/plan-then-execute