Planning Phase

Planning Phase: Quick Reference

Purpose: Generate implementation plan with reuse analysis from spec.md, ensuring alignment with project documentation and maximizing code reuse.

Phase Overview

Inputs:

• specs/NNN-slug/spec.md - Feature specification
• docs/project/*.md - 8 project documentation files (if available)

Outputs:

• specs/NNN-slug/plan.md - Implementation plan
• specs/NNN-slug/research.md - Research findings and reuse opportunities

Expected duration: 1-3 hours

Quick Start Checklist

Before you begin:

• Specification phase completed (spec.md exists)
• Understand feature requirements
• Project documentation available (or brownfield codebase)

Core workflow:

1. ✅ Load Project Documentation - Read all 8 docs for constraints
2. ✅ Research Code Reuse - Search before designing
3. ✅ Design Architecture - Components, layers, patterns
4. ✅ Plan Data Model - Entities, relationships, migrations
5. ✅ Define API Contracts - Endpoints, schemas, validation
6. ✅ Plan Testing Strategy - Unit, integration, E2E coverage
7. ✅ Estimate Complexity - Task count prediction

Detailed Resources

🎯 Core Workflow

• Project Docs Integration - Load 8 project docs for constraints
• Code Reuse Analysis - Anti-duplication search patterns
• Architecture Planning - Component design, layers, patterns

📊 Planning Artifacts

• Data Model Planning - Entity design, ERD, migrations
• API Contracts - OpenAPI specs, endpoint design
• Testing Strategy - Coverage plan, test types

🔧 Estimation & Validation

• Complexity Estimation - Task count prediction (20-30 tasks)
• Common Mistakes - Anti-patterns to avoid

Completion Criteria

Required:

• plan.md created with architecture, components, API contracts
• research.md created with reuse findings and project context
• All 8 project docs read (or brownfield research complete)
• Code reuse opportunities identified (5-15 expected)
• Testing strategy defined (unit, integration, E2E)
• Complexity estimated (20-30 tasks predicted)

Optional (if applicable):

• Data model ERD created (Mermaid diagram)
• API contracts in OpenAPI format
• UI/UX flow diagram (for UI features)

Next Phase

After planning complete: → /tasks - Break down into concrete implementation tasks

See also:

• reference.md - Comprehensive planning guide (full text)
• examples.md - Good vs bad planning examples