Prepare Plan Implementation

Prepare Plan Implementation

Use this skill before moving from planning to implementation.

Gate The Plan

• Inspect repository context first when possible with non-destructive commands such as git status --short --branch.
• State one explicit isolation recommendation before offering implementation: current branch, new branch, or new worktree.
• Justify the recommendation briefly using the expected blast radius, change duration, need for parallel work, current workspace cleanliness, and risk of exploratory refactors.
• If isolation is not needed, say so explicitly. Do not skip the assessment.
• Prefer the lightest viable option.
• Recommend current branch for a small, low-risk change that clearly belongs to the active stream of work.
• Recommend new branch for a coherent change that should be reviewed, tested, and landed separately.
• Recommend new worktree for long-running, risky, or parallel work that should not disturb the current checkout.
• Reassess the recommendation if the scope expands materially.
• If repository context is unknown, state the assumptions behind the recommendation.
• If the working tree is already dirty, avoid suggestions that silently mix unrelated changes or assume cleanup authority.

Escalate To Worktree

• Treat new worktree as the safer default when physical checkout isolation matters, not just git history isolation.
• Recommend new worktree immediately if the current working tree is dirty with unrelated changes and implementation should proceed without touching them.
• Recommend new worktree immediately if the plan is expected to span multiple sessions, significant exploratory work, or frequent context switching with the current task.
• Recommend new worktree immediately if the work is likely to require disruptive operations in the checkout such as dependency churn, code generation, long-lived dev processes, or broad refactors.
• Recommend new worktree immediately if the user will likely need the current checkout to stay stable for review, hotfixes, or parallel implementation.
• Do not recommend new branch as sufficient when the real need is checkout isolation. A branch in the same worktree still shares uncommitted files.
• If two or more moderate risk signals are present, prefer new worktree unless there is a clear reason not to.
• Moderate risk signals include more than three planned stages, likely rebases or back-and-forth experimentation, touching many directories, or unclear rollback boundaries.
• If recommending current branch or new branch, say why shared checkout state is safe enough.

Stage The Implementation

• Break the plan into incremental stages.
• Give every stage a goal, scope, explicit boundary, verification method, tests or checks, and exit criteria.
• Keep each stage small enough to complete and validate independently.
• Separate enabling refactors from behavior changes unless they are inseparable.
• Keep unrelated cleanup out of the current stage.
• Prefer stages that can be verified before moving to the next one.

Verify Progress

• Define at least one concrete verification step per stage.
• Name exact commands when repository context makes them knowable.
• If automated coverage is absent, specify the manual verification path and call out the gap.
• Confirm stage completion against the exit criteria before proposing the next stage.
• Treat test and verification work as part of the stage, not as an optional follow-up.

Offer Implementation Carefully

• If the user asked only for a plan, stop after the staged plan.
• If implementation is in scope, offer it only after the isolation recommendation and staged outline are present.
• Describe implementation as stage-by-stage execution, not as one undifferentiated change.
• Keep the first stage narrow enough to reduce rollback cost if assumptions break.

Use This Response Shape

• Isolation: recommend current branch, new branch, or new worktree.
• Reason: explain why that level of isolation is or is not necessary.
• Stage 1: name the first bounded step.
• Limit: state what the stage must not include.
• Verification: state how completion will be checked.
• Tests: name the concrete automated or manual checks.
• Repeat the same shape for later stages when needed.