Spec Kitty.plan

Startup Upgrade Check

Run this at most once per active agent session before the first Spec Kitty command workflow. If you already ran spec-kitty upgrade --agent-check --json in this session, reuse that result and skip this block. Do not run or announce an upgrade check again for later Spec Kitty commands in the same session. Otherwise, before continuing, run:

spec-kitty upgrade --agent-check --json

If JSON action is none, continue. If action is auto_upgrade, run upgrade_command before continuing. If it fails, tell the user and continue with the current Spec Kitty version. If action is guidance, show upgrade_note briefly, then continue. If action is prompt, ask the user with the host-native question UI when available:

Spec Kitty {latest_version} is available. You are on {installed_version}. Upgrade now?

Use these choices:

1. Upgrade now (recommended) - record upgrade_now, run upgrade_command, then continue.
2. Always keep me up to date - record always, run upgrade_command, then continue.
3. Not now - record not_now, then continue.
4. Never ask again - record never_ask, then continue.

Record the selected choice before continuing:

spec-kitty upgrade --agent-choice <upgrade_now|always|not_now|never_ask> --agent-latest <latest_version> --json

If no host-native question UI is available, present the same four choices in plain text and wait for the user. In non-interactive hosts, choose not_now and continue.

/spec-kitty.plan - Create Implementation Plan

Version: 0.11.0+

📍 WORKING DIRECTORY: Stay in the repository root checkout

IMPORTANT: Plan works in the repository root checkout. NO worktrees created.

# Run from project root (same directory as /spec-kitty.specify):
# You should already be here if you just ran /spec-kitty.specify

# Creates:
# - kitty-specs/<mission_slug>/plan.md → In repository root checkout
#   (the NNN- prefix in the directory listing is display-only metadata)
# - Commits to target branch
# - NO worktrees created

Do NOT cd anywhere. Stay in the repository root checkout.

Mission Handle Rule

/spec-kitty.plan operates on an existing mission, so use --mission <handle> when the CLI needs a mission selector.

• <handle> can be the mission's mission_id (ULID), mid8 (first 8 chars of the ULID), or mission_slug.
• Prefer mission_id or mid8 when the repo has multiple similarly named missions.
• The resolver disambiguates by mission_id and returns a structured MISSION_AMBIGUOUS_SELECTOR error on ambiguity — there is no silent fallback.

User Input

The content of the user's message that invoked this skill (everything after the skill invocation token, e.g. after /spec-kitty.<command> or $spec-kitty.<command>) is the User Input referenced elsewhere in these instructions.

You MUST consider this user input before proceeding (if not empty).

Commit Boundary (issue #846)

/spec-kitty.plan will refuse to advance the plan phase unless two gates pass:

1. Entry gate. spec.md must already be both committed (tracked + present at HEAD) and substantive (at least one populated FR-### row — not just template placeholders). If either check fails, the CLI returns phase_complete=false with a blocked_reason naming "committed AND substantive" and does not create or commit plan.md.

2. Exit gate. plan.md is only auto-committed when its Technical Context section contains a real Language/Version value (and at least one peer field) — not the [e.g., …] / [NEEDS CLARIFICATION …] placeholders.

   • The FIRST setup-plan call after the entry gate passes scaffolds plan.md from the template. This is a non-error state: the CLI returns result: "success" with scaffold_only: true and phase_complete: false — it means "plan.md is ready for you to populate", not a failure. Do not treat this call as blocked; proceed to fill in the Technical Context.
   • Once plan.md has been edited but its Technical Context is still not substantive, the CLI returns result: "blocked" with phase_complete: false and a populated-but-insufficient blocked_reason naming the missing field(s) — populate the section and re-run.

Section presence is the only signal — adding arbitrary prose without the required structural rows does not count as substantive (no byte-length escape hatch).

To advance: populate the Technical Context with real values, then re-run spec-kitty agent mission setup-plan --mission <mission-slug> --json. The substantive plan will be auto-committed and phase_complete will report true.

Reference: kitty-specs/charter-e2e-827-followups-01KQAJA0/contracts/specify-plan-commit-boundary.md.

Branch Strategy Confirmation (MANDATORY)

Before asking planning questions or generating artifacts, you must make the branch contract explicit.

• Never describe the landing branch vaguely. Always name the actual branch value.
• If the user says the feature should land somewhere else, stop and resolve that before writing plan.md.
• You must repeat the branch contract twice during this command:
  1. immediately after parsing setup-plan --json
  2. again in the final report before suggesting /spec-kitty.tasks

Charter Context Bootstrap (required)

Before planning interrogation, load charter context for this action:

spec-kitty charter context --action plan --json

• If JSON mode is bootstrap, apply JSON text as first-run governance context and follow referenced docs as needed.
• If JSON mode is compact, continue with condensed governance context.

Location Check (0.11.0+)

This command runs in the repository root checkout, not in a worktree.

• Resolve branch context from deterministic JSON output, not from meta.json inspection:
  • Run spec-kitty agent mission setup-plan --mission <mission-slug> --json
  • Use current_branch, target_branch / base_branch, and planning_base_branch / merge_target_branch (plus uppercase aliases) from that payload
  • Use branch_matches_target from that payload to detect branch mismatch; do not probe branch state manually inside the prompt
• Planning artifacts live in kitty-specs/<mission_slug>/ (the NNN- prefix is display-only metadata)
• The plan template is committed to the target branch after generation

Path reference rule: When you mention directories or files, provide either the absolute path or a path relative to the project root (for example, kitty-specs/<mission>/tasks/). Never refer to a folder by name alone.

Agent Context Files (do not mutate)

This command does not update agent-specific context files.

• Do not search for or mutate CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, or similar agent-specific files as part of /spec-kitty.plan.
• Do not hunt for updater scripts or imaginary spec-kitty agent context update commands. No supported context-update command exists in this release.
• Planning outputs are the mission planning artifacts only:
  • plan.md
  • research.md
  • data-model.md
  • contracts/
  • quickstart.md
  • occurrence_map.yaml when bulk-edit planning applies

Decision Moment Protocol

Before asking any clarifying question during plan elaboration, you MUST:

1. Run spec-kitty agent decision open to mint a decision_id:

   spec-kitty agent decision open \
     --mission <mission-slug> \
     --flow plan \
     --slot-key plan.<section>.<question-slug> \
     --input-key <snake_case_key> \
     --question "<question text>" \
     [--options '["option1","option2","Other"]']
   

   Capture the returned decision_id from the JSON output.

2. Ask the question to the user in chat.

3. After the user answers, run exactly one of:

   • Resolved: spec-kitty agent decision resolve <decision_id> --mission <slug> --final-answer "<answer>"
   • Deferred: spec-kitty agent decision defer <decision_id> --mission <slug> --rationale "<reason>"
   • Canceled: spec-kitty agent decision cancel <decision_id> --mission <slug> --rationale "<reason>"

4. When deferring, write the inline marker into plan.md:

   [NEEDS CLARIFICATION: <brief description>] <!-- decision_id: <decision_id> -->
   

5. Before finishing this command, run: spec-kitty agent decision verify --mission <slug> Resolve all findings (DEFERRED_WITHOUT_MARKER, MARKER_WITHOUT_DECISION, STALE_MARKER) before proceeding.

Important constraints:

• --slot-key format: plan.<section>.<question-slug> (e.g., plan.architecture.db-choice).
• --input-key is the snake_case programmatic key (e.g., db_choice).
• The decision_id on the wire is a plain ULID (26 chars). The DM- prefix appears only in artifact filenames, not in CLI arguments.
• The verifier cross-checks [NEEDS CLARIFICATION: …] <!-- decision_id: <id> --> sentinels in plan.md against the decisions index and exits non-zero on drift.
• Widening is represented by the CLI/SaaS widen flow; if that flow returns canonical thread metadata, it must be recorded as DecisionPointWidened.
• Local-only; no SaaS calls needed.

Planning Interrogation (mandatory)

Before executing any scripts or generating artifacts you must interrogate the specification and stakeholders.

• Scope proportionality (CRITICAL): FIRST, assess the feature's complexity from the spec:

  • Trivial/Test Features (hello world, simple static pages, basic demos): Ask 1-2 questions maximum about tech stack preference, then proceed with sensible defaults
  • Simple Features (small components, minor API additions): Ask 2-3 questions about tech choices and constraints
  • Complex Features (new subsystems, multi-component features): Ask 3-5 questions covering architecture, NFRs, integrations
  • Platform/Critical Features (core infrastructure, security, payments): Full interrogation with 5+ questions

• Scenario-to-design handoff: For non-trivial features, anchor planning questions in the concrete user flows from the spec rather than generic architecture preferences.

• Domain rule follow-through: When the spec implies approvals, lifecycle states, irreversible operations, or business-critical validations, ask 1-2 targeted questions about invariants, transitions, atomicity, and externally visible events or integrations. Skip this for trivial features.

• User signals to reduce questioning: If the user says "use defaults", "just make it simple", "skip to implementation", "vanilla HTML/CSS/JS" - recognize these as signals to minimize planning questions and use standard approaches.

• First response rule:

  • For TRIVIAL features: Ask ONE tech stack question, then if answer is simple (e.g., "vanilla HTML"), proceed directly to plan generation
  • For other features: Ask a single architecture question tied to the riskiest scenario, rule, or lifecycle constraint and end with WAITING_FOR_PLANNING_INPUT

• If the user has not provided plan context, keep interrogating with one question at a time.

• Conversational cadence: After each reply, assess if you have SUFFICIENT context for this feature's scope. For trivial features, knowing the basic stack is enough. Only continue if critical unknowns remain.

Planning requirements (scale to complexity):

1. Maintain a Planning Questions table internally covering questions appropriate to the feature's complexity (1-2 for trivial, up to 5+ for platform-level). Track columns #, Question, Why it matters, and Current insight. Do not render this table to the user.
2. For trivial features, standard practices are acceptable (vanilla HTML, simple file structure, no build tools). Only probe if the user's request suggests otherwise.
3. When you have sufficient context for the scope, summarize into an Engineering Alignment note and confirm. Include invariant, state-transition, or event assumptions when they materially affect the design.
4. If user explicitly asks to skip questions or use defaults, acknowledge and proceed with best practices for that feature type.

Bulk-Edit Check (if applicable)

If this mission is marked change_mode: bulk_edit in meta.json — or if the spec describes renaming the same string (identifier, path, key, label, term) across many files — load the spec-kitty-bulk-edit-classification skill and follow it. You will produce kitty-specs/<mission>/occurrence_map.yaml alongside the other planning artifacts. Every one of the 8 standard categories (code_symbols, import_paths, filesystem_paths, serialized_keys, cli_commands, user_facing_strings, tests_fixtures, logs_telemetry) must have an explicit action. Without that artifact, the implement command will refuse to start the first WP.

If the mission is not a bulk edit, skip this step.

Outline

1. Check planning discovery status:

   • If any planning questions remain unanswered or the user has not confirmed the Engineering Alignment summary, stay in the one-question cadence, capture the user's response, update your internal table, and end with WAITING_FOR_PLANNING_INPUT. Do not surface the table. Do not run the setup command yet.
   • Once every planning question has a concrete answer and the alignment summary is confirmed by the user, continue.

2. Resolve mission context deterministically (CRITICAL - prevents wrong mission selection):

   • Prefer an explicit mission slug from user direction or from the current directory path (kitty-specs/<mission-slug>/...)
   • The resolver requires --mission — always pass an explicit handle. Running setup-plan without --mission returns PLAN_CONTEXT_UNRESOLVED even when exactly one mission is present.
   • Resolve the handle first: spec-kitty agent context resolve --action plan --mission <handle> --json, then pass the resolved slug to setup-plan
   • If the context resolve call returns an ambiguity error with available_missions, stop and pick one explicit mission slug before continuing

3. Setup: If step 2 did not already return a successful setup payload, run spec-kitty agent mission setup-plan --mission <mission-slug> --json from the repository root and parse JSON for:

   • result: "success" or error message
   • scaffold_only: true only on the first happy-path scaffold write (plan.md freshly copied from the template, untouched). This is result: "success" and NOT an error — populate the Technical Context and re-run setup-plan to commit. phase_complete stays false until then.
   • mission_slug: Resolved feature slug
   • spec_file: Absolute path to resolved spec.md
   • plan_file: Absolute path to the created plan.md
   • feature_dir: Absolute path to the feature directory
   • current_branch: branch checked out when planning started
   • target_branch / base_branch (deterministic branch contract for downstream commands)
   • planning_base_branch / merge_target_branch: explicit aliases for planning and merge intent
   • branch_strategy_summary: canonical sentence describing the branch strategy

   Before proceeding, explicitly state to the user:

   • Current branch at plan start
   • Intended planning/base branch
   • Final merge target for completed changes
   • Whether branch_matches_target says the current branch matches that intended target

   Example:

   # Resolve the active mission handle, then pass it to setup-plan.
   # The --mission flag accepts mission_id (ULID), mid8 (first 8 chars), or mission_slug.
   # The resolver disambiguates by mission_id; ambiguous handles become structured errors.
   # --action is required for context resolve; use the action matching this step.
   spec-kitty agent context resolve --action plan --mission <handle> --json
   spec-kitty agent mission setup-plan --mission <handle> --json
   

   Error handling: If the command fails with "Cannot detect mission", "Multiple missions found", or MISSION_AMBIGUOUS_SELECTOR, pass an unambiguous handle — the mission_id or its 8-char prefix mid8 always disambiguates.

4. Load context: Read spec_file from setup-plan JSON output and .kittify/charter/charter.md if it exists. If the charter file is missing, skip Charter Check and note that it is absent. Load IMPL_PLAN template (already copied).

5. Execute plan workflow: Follow the structure in IMPL_PLAN template, using the validated planning answers as ground truth:

   • Update Technical Context with explicit statements from the user or discovery research; mark [NEEDS CLARIFICATION: …] <!-- decision_id: <id> --> only when the user deliberately postpones a decision (call decision defer before writing each such marker)
   • If a charter exists, fill Charter Check section from it and challenge any conflicts directly with the user. If no charter exists, mark the section as skipped.
   • Evaluate gates (ERROR if violations unjustified or questions remain unanswered)
   • Phase 0: Generate research.md (commission research to resolve every outstanding clarification, prioritizing unresolved domain rules, lifecycle questions, and event/integration behavior before generic tech comparisons)
   • Phase 1: Generate data-model.md, contracts/, quickstart.md based on confirmed intent; when applicable, capture entities/value objects, invariants, state transitions, and externally visible events in the design artifacts
   • Re-evaluate Charter Check post-design, asking the user to resolve new gaps before proceeding

6. STOP and report: This command ends after Phase 1 planning. Report branch, IMPL_PLAN path, and generated artifacts (including the Implementation Concern Map if present).

   ⚠️ CRITICAL: DO NOT proceed to task generation! The user must explicitly run /spec-kitty.tasks to translate implementation concerns from plan.md into executable work packages. Your job is COMPLETE after reporting the planning artifacts.

Phases

Phase 0: Outline & Research

1. Extract unknowns from Technical Context above:

   • For each NEEDS CLARIFICATION → research task
   • For each unresolved rule, invariant, lifecycle edge, or event/integration ambiguity → domain research task
   • For each dependency → best practices task
   • For each integration → patterns task

2. Generate and dispatch research agents:

   For each unknown in Technical Context:
     Task: "Research {unknown} for {feature context}"
   For each unresolved domain rule:
     Task: "Clarify invariant, state transition, or event behavior for {feature context}"
   For each technology choice:
     Task: "Find best practices for {tech} in {domain}"
   

3. Consolidate findings in research.md using format:

   • Decision: [what was chosen]
   • Rationale: [why chosen]
   • Alternatives considered: [what else evaluated]

Output: research.md with all NEEDS CLARIFICATION resolved

Phase 1: Design & Contracts

Prerequisites: research.md complete

1. Extract entities from feature spec → data-model.md:

   • Entity name, fields, relationships
   • Validation rules from requirements
   • Invariants or atomicity boundaries if applicable
   • State transitions if applicable

2. Generate API contracts from functional requirements:

   • For each user action → endpoint
   • For each externally visible event, webhook, or integration callback → contract or payload shape when applicable
   • Use standard REST/GraphQL patterns
   • Output OpenAPI/GraphQL schema to /contracts/

Output: data-model.md, /contracts/*, quickstart.md

Key rules

• Use absolute paths
• ERROR on gate failures or unresolved clarifications

⛔ MANDATORY STOP POINT

This command is COMPLETE after generating planning artifacts.

After reporting:

• plan.md path
• research.md path (if generated)
• data-model.md path (if generated)
• contracts/ contents (if generated)

YOU MUST STOP HERE.

Do NOT:

• ❌ Generate tasks.md
• ❌ Create work package (WP) files
• ❌ Create tasks/ subdirectories
• ❌ Proceed to implementation

/spec-kitty.tasks translates implementation concerns from plan.md into executable work packages. The user will run it when they are ready.

Next suggested command: /spec-kitty.tasks (user must invoke this explicitly)