# To Acceptance Plan > Turn Bounded or Architectural work into a concise scenario-first acceptance plan with exact interfaces and a decision-record outcome, then hand off at the selected Split or Combined checkpoint. Stops before implementation or orchestration. NOT for Spike, Routine, or task decomposition. - Skill: `stacklok/to-acceptance-plan` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add stacklok/to-acceptance-plan` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/stacklok/to-acceptance-plan/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Productivity - Author: stacklok (https://skillmd.com/u/stacklok) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/stacklok/to-acceptance-plan --- # to-acceptance-plan Create the durable behavioral and interface contract at `docs/acceptance/.md`, then stop at the delivery-specific handoff: a Split plan PR or a prepared Combined branch. ## Contract Claude Code's `disable-model-invocation: true` prevents model-initiated invocation in that host. It does not protect mecatl or any other harness. Another harness must require an explicit user request before creating a worktree or branch, committing, pushing, or opening a PR. Without that request, draft and report only; do not perform those side effects. - Before classification or drafting, load [`references/WORK-CLASSIFICATION.md`](references/WORK-CLASSIFICATION.md). Spike and Routine bypass this skill. Continue only for Bounded or Architectural work; if evidence is insufficient, escalate or stop for human-authorized Spike work rather than silently downgrading. - Use the eventual delivery branch in exactly one validated writable worktree. Split uses a dedicated `plan/` branch; Combined uses the eventual combined implementation branch. Never write in the primary checkout when operating from an isolated worktree. - Start at `draft`; new and materially amended plans use exact `**Contract:** human-reviewed/v2` metadata plus a concise `**Work classification:** Bounded|Architectural — `. Existing v1 plans remain valid until materially amended. A Bounded plan records `**Decision record:** None — `; an Architectural plan links the new or superseding ADR for its genuinely durable decision. Existing ADRs may still be cited. Never create an ADR merely to narrate Routine or Bounded work. Unresolved human judgments about material behavior or interfaces are unchecked items in `## Human decisions` and keep the plan draft. - Set `proposed` only when `## Human decisions` declares `None — ` or every decision is checked and records `— Decision: ...`; record whether the path is `Split` or `Combined`. - Default to `Split`. `Combined` is a narrow exception for a compact one-task, exactly one-`### Scenario` change only when it declares exact `**Expected tasks:** 1` metadata, a non-placeholder `**Combined rationale:**` explaining why separate plan review adds no value, and gRPC/protobuf, exported Go APIs/interfaces, tool schemas, CLI/config, events/persistence, and security/authority each begin `None — `; compatibility/migration may describe workflow migration. A workflow-only meta-change may instead treat repository process documents and skills as the interface reviewed in that same PR. - Split opens a dedicated Plan / Interface PR and stops. Combined opens no plan PR: `/plan-orchestrate` must be explicitly invoked to add implementation on the same branch and open the sole Combined PR. - Never implement code, merge, or use a closing issue keyword. ## Authoring 1. Read `AGENTS.md`, `docs/architecture.md`, `docs/acceptance/README.md`, relevant ADRs, and `docs/design/IMPLEMENTATION-NOTES.md` when applicable. 2. Draft from [`references/ACCEPTANCE-PLAN-TEMPLATE.md`](references/ACCEPTANCE-PLAN-TEMPLATE.md). Keep focused work compact. Every scenario has numbered `AC.:` assertions, non-empty `verify:` lines, and at least one repository citation. 3. Complete mandatory `## Human decisions` with exactly one machine-readable shape: `None — `, or checklist items where open decisions are `- [ ] ...` and resolved decisions are `- [x] ... — Decision: ...`. Place every material behavior/interface judgment there; do not hide one as a deferred decision. Any unchecked item keeps the plan `draft`. 4. Complete `## Interface contract` using all seven exact canonical labels from the template: gRPC/protobuf, exported Go APIs, tool schemas, CLI/config, events/persistence, security/authority, and compatibility/migration. Every category needs non-placeholder content; use `None — ` only when genuinely absent. Public or material decisions may not be deferred to implementation. 5. Apply the declared decision-record outcome. Create a new ADR only for the Architectural decision named by the plan; update living docs where behavior changes. Add the plan to `docs/acceptance/README.md`. 6. Run: ```sh bash .claude/skills/to-acceptance-plan/scripts/check-acceptance-plan.sh docs/acceptance/.md bash .claude/skills/to-acceptance-plan/scripts/check-acceptance-plan-test.sh task docs ``` The regression fixture script is also wired through `task docs:check` and therefore `task docs`; the explicit command makes its authoring-time coverage visible. 7. Run one advisory `devils-advocate` pass and at most two relevant specialist spot-checks. Fold clear corrections in; batch material open decisions for the human. Re-run checks. ## Amendment mode Use amendment mode only after a `blocked-contract-drift` handoff and a separate, explicit user authorization to invoke `/to-acceptance-plan` for that amendment. The orchestrator cannot authorize or perform it. Amend the durable plan and related decision/task docs using the **Split** Plan / Interface PR flow regardless of the original delivery mode: run the checker and docs gates, open the amendment PR, then stop for human review. Merging the amended Plan / Interface PR is the approval event; no separate status-line edit is required. Report the amendment PR and full merged commit so `/plan-orchestrate` can prove approval by git ancestry, correct a lagging `proposed` label if needed, record both in `run.md`, establish the required ancestry, regenerate decomposition and briefs, and only then resume dispatch. The normal side-effect authority rules above still apply; amendment mode does not imply permission to branch, commit, push, or open a PR. ## Worktree ownership record Before any permitted branch/worktree side effect, create `.scratch/orchestrate//run.md` and record the integration/plan worktree path, owner classification (`harness-owned-native`, `orchestrator-created-disposable`, or `primary-current` where applicable), branch, creation baseline, and cleanup eligibility. On resume, verify the record against `git worktree list`. Only an explicitly `orchestrator-created-disposable` worktree that completed successfully may be eligible for removal; never infer ownership from its path. ## Delivery handoff For **Split**, explicitly stage only the plan/interface docs and generated docs, commit on `plan/`, push that branch, and open a PR with stage **Plan / Interface**. Use `Relates to #N` or `Tracking: #N` as ordinary text. GitHub has no `Related-to` keyword: do not use closing keywords or sidebar-link this PR as the issue-closing PR. Report the PR URL, branch, worktree, checker result, and docs result, then **STOP**. Merging the PR is the approval event — no separate status-line edit is required before merge; `/plan-orchestrate` proves approval by git ancestry and corrects the label if it lags. For **Combined**, prepare the proposed plan on the eventual combined implementation branch and **STOP without pushing or opening a separate plan PR**. If the explicit user request authorizes a local commit, commit the plan there; otherwise leave it as the recorded handoff and let the explicitly invoked orchestrator make the first combined candidate commit before dispatch. The user must explicitly invoke `/plan-orchestrate` to add the one-task implementation, verify the combined candidate, and open the sole **Combined** PR.