How do I install the Plan Gate skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add nux-design/plan-gate in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Plan Gate safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Plan Gate?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Plan Gate free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Plan Gate?

NUX-Design (@nux-design) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Plan Gate by nux-design — Agent Skill

Name: Plan Gate
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: NUX-Design

Plan Gate

Use before starting ANY task that involves more than one edit, file, or step - coding, refactoring, writing, configuration, migrations. Forces a short written plan (goal, unknowns, success criteria, step order) BEFORE the first change. Do not use for single-line fixes or pure questions.

NUX-Design Updated Sep 22, 2026

File contents

plan-gate: no edits until the plan exists

The most expensive failure mode in agentic work is not a wrong answer. It is discovering the real shape of the task halfway through changing things. This skill makes that discovery happen BEFORE anything changes, when it costs nothing.

The gate

Before your first edit, write a plan in your response. Not in your head. Written, visible, in this exact shape:

GOAL: <one sentence: what is true when this is done>
UNKNOWNS: <what you have not verified yet - each with how you will verify it>
SUCCESS CRITERIA: <how you and the user will KNOW it worked - a command, a test, an observable>
STEPS: <numbered, smallest useful granularity, verification steps included>
OUT OF SCOPE: <adjacent things you noticed but will NOT touch>

Rules:

The plan comes from evidence, not memory. Read the relevant files and run the relevant read-only commands FIRST. A plan written before looking is a guess with formatting.
Every unknown gets a verification step. "Probably X" is not a plan line. "Check whether X by doing Y" is.
Success criteria must be executable. "Code works" fails this test. "npm test passes and GET /health returns 200" passes it.
If the plan has more than 7 steps, the task needs decomposition, not a longer plan. Split it and gate each part.
When reality contradicts the plan mid-task, STOP and re-plan. Do not improvise past a surprise. A surprised plan is an invalid plan. State what changed, update the plan, then continue.

What this catches

The hidden dependency you would have found at step 4 with three files already half-edited.
The missing success criterion that would have let you declare victory on broken work.
The scope creep that starts as "while I am here" and ends as an unreviewable diff.

Anti-patterns this skill exists to kill

Diving in: first tool call is an edit.
The mental plan: "I know what to do" followed by discovering you did not.
The pivot cascade: three abandoned half-approaches in one session because none was planned.

Exception

Trivial tasks (one obvious edit, zero unknowns) may skip the written plan. Say "trivial, skipping plan-gate" so the skip is a decision, not a lapse. If you are wrong about it being trivial, the moment you notice is the moment you stop and write the plan.

---name: plan-gatedescription: Use before starting ANY task that involves more than one edit, file, or step - coding, refactoring, writing, configuration, migrations. Forces a short written plan (goal, unknowns, success criteria, step order) BEFORE the first change. Do not use for single-line fixes or pure questions.---# plan-gate: no edits until the plan existsThe most expensive failure mode in agentic work is not a wrong answer. It is discovering the real shape of the task halfway through changing things. This skill makes that discovery happen BEFORE anything changes, when it costs nothing.## The gateBefore your first edit, write a plan in your response. Not in your head. Written, visible, in this exact shape:```GOAL: <one sentence: what is true when this is done>UNKNOWNS: <what you have not verified yet - each with how you will verify it>SUCCESS CRITERIA: <how you and the user will KNOW it worked - a command, a test, an observable>STEPS: <numbered, smallest useful granularity, verification steps included>OUT OF SCOPE: <adjacent things you noticed but will NOT touch>```Rules:1. **The plan comes from evidence, not memory.** Read the relevant files and run the relevant read-only commands FIRST. A plan written before looking is a guess with formatting.2. **Every unknown gets a verification step.** "Probably X" is not a plan line. "Check whether X by doing Y" is.3. **Success criteria must be executable.** "Code works" fails this test. "npm test passes and GET /health returns 200" passes it.4. **If the plan has more than 7 steps, the task needs decomposition**, not a longer plan. Split it and gate each part.5. **When reality contradicts the plan mid-task, STOP and re-plan.** Do not improvise past a surprise. A surprised plan is an invalid plan. State what changed, update the plan, then continue.## What this catches- The hidden dependency you would have found at step 4 with three files already half-edited.- The missing success criterion that would have let you declare victory on broken work.- The scope creep that starts as "while I am here" and ends as an unreviewable diff.## Anti-patterns this skill exists to kill- Diving in: first tool call is an edit.- The mental plan: "I know what to do" followed by discovering you did not.- The pivot cascade: three abandoned half-approaches in one session because none was planned.## ExceptionTrivial tasks (one obvious edit, zero unknowns) may skip the written plan. Say "trivial, skipping plan-gate" so the skip is a decision, not a lapse. If you are wrong about it being trivial, the moment you notice is the moment you stop and write the plan.

Frequently asked questions