Planning

Planning

Core Rules (Non-Negotiable)

1. NEVER skip requirements discussion — understand before decomposing
2. Ask at least one clarifying question before breaking down tasks
3. Vertical slices only — each task delivers working functionality
4. Confirm understanding — summarise and agree before moving on

The Planning Cycle

💬 DISCUSS  → Understand the problem and expected behaviour
❓ CLARIFY  → Ask questions, resolve ambiguities
✂️ SLICE    → Break into tasks
📋 CONFIRM  → Summarise and agree on first task

Detailed Steps

💬 DISCUSS — Understand Requirements

1. What problem does this feature solve?
2. What is the expected behaviour?
3. What are the acceptance criteria?
4. Are there any constraints or dependencies?

❓ CLARIFY — Resolve Ambiguities

1. Identify gaps in understanding
2. Ask focused questions
3. Challenge assumptions
4. STOP — Do not proceed until questions are answered

✂️ SLICE — Break Into Tasks

Create tasks that are:

• Vertical — each delivers working end-to-end functionality
• Small — completable in one TDD cycle
• Ordered — by dependency first, then by value
• Testable — clear acceptance criteria

📋 CONFIRM — Agree on Plan

1. Summarise understanding back to user
2. Present ordered task list
3. STOP — Explicitly agree on the first task to implement

What Makes a Good Task

✅ Good: "Add a book to the library"
   - Has clear input (book details)
   - Has clear output (book stored)
   - Can be tested end-to-end

❌ Bad: "Create the Book class"
   - Implementation detail
   - No user-visible behaviour
   - Can't be validated independently

Announcing Progress

💬 DISCUSS → Understanding [feature]
❓ CLARIFY → Question: [question]
✂️ SLICE → Breaking into tasks
📋 CONFIRM → Proposed tasks: [list]

Output Format

After planning, present tasks as:

## Tasks for [Feature]

1. [ ] [Task description] — [acceptance criteria]
2. [ ] [Task description] — [acceptance criteria]
3. [ ] [Task description] — [acceptance criteria]

**First task:** [Task 1 description]

Common Mistakes

• Diving into implementation without understanding requirements
• Creating horizontal slices (e.g., "build the database layer")
• Tasks too large to complete in one session
• Skipping confirmation step
• Not ordering by dependency