Project Planning

Table of Contents

• When to Use
• Integration
• Planning Phases
• Phase 1: Architecture Design
• Phase 2: Task Breakdown
• Phase 3: Dependency Analysis
• Phase 4: Sprint Planning
• Architecture Design Patterns
• Component Identification
• Component Template
• Component: [Name]
• Task Breakdown Template
• TASK-[XXX]: [Task Name]
• Task Estimation Guidelines
• Dependency Graph
• Sprint Structure
• Sprint [N]: [Focus Area]
• Planned Tasks ([X] story points)
• Deliverable
• Risks
• Dependencies
• Risk Assessment
• Output Format
• Architecture
• System Overview
• Component Diagram
• Components
• Data Flow
• Task Breakdown
• Phase 1: [Name] (Sprint [N]) - TASK-001 through TASK-010
• Phase 2: [Name] (Sprint [M]) - TASK-011 through TASK-020
• Dependency Graph
• Sprint Schedule
• Risk Assessment
• Success Metrics
• Timeline
• Next Steps
• Quality Checks
• Related Skills
• Related Commands
• Examples

Project Planning Skill

Transform specification into implementation plan with architecture design and dependency-ordered tasks.

Delegation

For detailed task planning workflows, this skill delegates to spec-kit:task-planning as the canonical implementation. Use this skill for quick planning needs; use spec-kit for comprehensive project plans.

When To Use

• After specification phase completes
• Need to design system architecture
• Need task breakdown for implementation
• Planning sprints and resource allocation
• Converting requirements into actionable tasks
• Defining component interfaces and dependencies

When NOT To Use

• No specification exists yet (use Skill(attune:project-specification) first)
• Still exploring problem space (use Skill(attune:project-brainstorming) instead)
• Ready to execute existing plan (use Skill(attune:project-execution) instead)
• Need to adjust running project (update plan incrementally, don't restart)

Integration

With superpowers:

• Uses Skill(superpowers:writing-plans) for structured planning
• Applies checkpoint-based execution patterns
• Uses dependency analysis framework

Without superpowers:

• Standalone planning methodology
• Task breakdown templates
• Dependency tracking patterns

Planning Phases

Phase 1: Architecture Design

Activities:

1. Identify system components
2. Define component responsibilities
3. Design interfaces between components
4. Map data flows
5. Select technologies

Output: Architecture documentation with diagrams

Phase 1.5: File Structure (REQUIRED)

Activities:

1. Map which files will be created or modified
2. Assign one-line purpose to each file
3. Verify each file has a single clear responsibility
4. Lock in decomposition decisions before task breakdown

This phase MUST complete before Phase 2 begins. Tasks reference files declared here; undeclared files require revisiting this phase.

Output: File structure table

Template:

Validation:

• Every file in the plan appears in this table
• Every file has exactly one Action (Create/Modify/Delete)
• No file appears twice with different actions
• Purpose describes WHAT, not HOW

Phase 2: Task Breakdown

Activities:

1. Decompose FRs into implementation tasks
2. Add testing tasks for each FR
3. Add infrastructure tasks
4. Add documentation tasks
5. Estimate each task

Output: Task list with estimates

Phase 3: Dependency Analysis

Activities:

1. Identify task dependencies
2. Create dependency graph
3. Identify critical path
4. Detect circular dependencies
5. Optimize for parallelization

Output: Dependency-ordered task execution plan

Phase 4: Sprint Planning

Activities:

1. Group tasks into sprints
2. Balance sprint workload
3. Identify milestones
4. Plan releases
5. Allocate resources

Output: Sprint schedule with milestones

Architecture Design Patterns

Component Identification

Questions:

• What are the major functional areas?
• What concerns should be separated?
• What components can be developed independently?
• What components can be reused?

Common Patterns:

• Frontend/Backend: Separate UI from business logic
• API Layer: Separate interface from implementation
• Data Layer: Separate data access from business logic
• Integration Layer: Isolate external dependencies

Component Template

### Component: [Name]

**Responsibility**: [What this component does]

**Technology**: [Stack and tools]

**Interfaces**:
- [Interface 1]: [Description]
- [Interface 2]: [Description]

**Dependencies**:
- [Component 1]: [What's needed]
- [Component 2]: [What's needed]

**Data**:
- [Data structure 1]
- [Data structure 2]

**Configuration**:
- [Config param 1]
- [Config param 2]

Task Breakdown Template

### TASK-[XXX]: [Task Name]

**Description**: [What needs to be done]

**Type**: Implementation | Testing | Documentation | Infrastructure | Deployment
**Priority**: P0 (Critical) | P1 (High) | P2 (Medium) | P3 (Low)
**Estimate**: [Story points or hours]
**Dependencies**: TASK-XXX, TASK-YYY
**Sprint**: Sprint N
**Assignee**: [Name or TBD]

**Linked Requirements**: FR-XXX, NFR-YYY

**Acceptance Criteria**:
- [ ] [Criterion 1]
- [ ] [Criterion 2]
- [ ] Tests passing
- [ ] Documentation updated

**Technical Notes**:
- [Implementation detail 1]
- [Implementation detail 2]

**Testing Requirements**:
- Unit tests: [What to test]
- Integration tests: [What to test]
- E2E tests: [What to test]

**Definition of Done**:
- [ ] Code complete
- [ ] Tests passing
- [ ] Code reviewed
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Deployed to staging

Task Estimation Guidelines

Story Points (Fibonacci):

• 1 point: < 2 hours, trivial, well-understood
• 2 points: 2-4 hours, straightforward
• 3 points: 4-8 hours, some complexity
• 5 points: 1-2 days, moderate complexity
• 8 points: 2-3 days, significant complexity
• 13 points: 3-5 days, high complexity (consider breaking down)
• 21 points: > 5 days, very complex (MUST break down)

Factors to consider:

• Technical complexity
• Uncertainty/unknowns
• Dependencies on other work
• Testing requirements
• Documentation needs

Dependency Graph

Notation:

TASK-001 (Foundation)
    ├─▶ TASK-002 (Database schema)
    │       ├─▶ TASK-003 (Models)
    │       └─▶ TASK-011 (Data import)
    └─▶ TASK-004 (Authentication)
            └─▶ TASK-005 (Auth middleware)
                    └─▶ TASK-010 (Protected endpoints)

Validation:

• No circular dependencies (A depends on B, B depends on A)
• Critical path identified
• Parallel work opportunities identified
• Blocking tasks highlighted

Sprint Structure

Sprint Template:

## Sprint [N]: [Focus Area]

**Dates**: [Start] - [End]
**Goal**: [Sprint objective]
**Capacity**: [Team capacity in story points]

### Planned Tasks ([X] story points)
- TASK-XXX ([N] points)
- TASK-YYY ([M] points)
- ...

### Deliverable
[What will be demonstrable at sprint end]

### Risks
- [Risk 1 with mitigation]
- [Risk 2 with mitigation]

### Dependencies
- [External dependency 1]
- [External dependency 2]

Risk Assessment

Risk Template:

| Risk | Impact | Probability | Mitigation |
|------|--------|-------------|------------|
| [Risk description] | High/Med/Low | High/Med/Low | [How to address] |

Common Risks:

• Technology unknowns
• Third-party API dependencies
• Resource availability
• Scope creep
• Performance issues
• Security vulnerabilities

Output Format

Save to docs/implementation-plan.md:

# [Project Name] - Implementation Plan v[version]

**Author**: [Name]
**Date**: [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Sprint Length**: [Duration]
**Team Size**: [Number]
**Target Completion**: [Date]

## Architecture

### System Overview
[High-level architecture description]

### Component Diagram
[ASCII or markdown diagram]

### Components
[Component details using template above]

### Data Flow
[How data moves through system]

## File Structure

| File | Action | Purpose |
|------|--------|---------|
| [path] | Create/Modify/Delete | [purpose] |

## Task Breakdown

### Phase 1: [Name] (Sprint [N]) - TASK-001 through TASK-010

[Tasks using template above]

### Phase 2: [Name] (Sprint [M]) - TASK-011 through TASK-020

[Tasks using template above]

## Dependency Graph

[Dependency visualization]

## Sprint Schedule

[Sprint details using template above]

## Risk Assessment

[Risk table]

## Success Metrics

- [ ] [Metric 1]
- [ ] [Metric 2]

## Timeline

| Sprint | Dates | Focus | Deliverable |
|--------|-------|-------|-------------|
| 1 | Jan 3-16 | Foundation | Dev environment |
| 2 | Jan 17-30 | Core | Feature X working |

## Next Steps

1. Review plan with team
2. Initialize project with `/attune:project-init`
3. Start execution with `/attune:execute`

Quality Checks

Before completing plan:

• ✅ All architecture components documented
• ✅ File Structure section present before tasks
• ✅ All task files appear in File Structure table
• ✅ All FRs mapped to tasks
• ✅ All tasks have acceptance criteria
• ✅ Dependencies are acyclic
• ✅ Effort estimates provided
• ✅ Critical path identified
• ✅ Risks assessed with mitigations
• ✅ Sprints balanced by capacity

Post-Completion: Workflow Continuation (REQUIRED)

Automatic Trigger: After Quality Checks pass and docs/implementation-plan.md is saved, MUST auto-invoke the next phase.

When continuation is invoked:

1. Verify docs/implementation-plan.md exists and is non-empty
2. Display checkpoint message to user:

   Implementation plan complete. Saved to docs/implementation-plan.md.
   Proceeding to execution phase...
   

3. Invoke next phase:

   Skill(attune:project-execution)
   

Bypass Conditions (ONLY skip continuation if ANY true):

• --standalone flag was provided by the user
• docs/implementation-plan.md does not exist or is empty (phase failed)
• User explicitly requests to stop after planning

Do NOT prompt the user for confirmation — this is a lightweight checkpoint, not an interactive gate. The user can always interrupt if needed.

Related Skills

• Skill(superpowers:writing-plans) - Planning methodology (if available)
• Skill(spec-kit:task-planning) - Task breakdown (if available)
• Skill(attune:project-specification) - Previous phase
• Skill(attune:project-execution) - AUTO-INVOKED next phase after planning
• Skill(attune:mission-orchestrator) - Full lifecycle orchestration

Related Commands

• /attune:blueprint - Invoke this skill
• /attune:execute - Next step in workflow

Examples

See /attune:blueprint command documentation for complete examples.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

If you find circular dependencies in your task graph, break one of the tasks into smaller sub-tasks. If sprint capacity is consistently exceeded, re-estimate tasks using the Fibonacci scale or reduce sprint scope.

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