Executing Plans

Executing Plans

Overview

Load plan, review critically, execute all tasks with prompt contracts, report when complete.

Announce at start: "I'm using the executing-plans skill to implement this plan."

Note: Tell your human partner that Superpowers works much better with access to subagents. The quality of its work will be significantly higher if run on a platform with subagent support (such as Claude Code or Codex). If subagents are available, use superpowers:subagent-driven-development instead of this skill.

The Process

Step 1: Load and Review Plan

1. Read plan file
2. Review critically - identify any questions or concerns about the plan
3. If concerns: Raise them with your human partner before starting
4. If no concerns: Create TodoWrite and proceed

Step 2: Execute Tasks

For each task:

1. Mark as in_progress
2. Invoke the prompt-contracts skill to create a 4-component contract (GOAL, CONSTRAINTS, FORMAT, FAILURE CONDITIONS) for this task before writing any code. Skip only for single-line fixes, typo corrections, or simple renames.
3. Follow each step exactly (plan has bite-sized steps)
4. Run verifications as specified
5. Mark as completed

Step 3: Complete Development

After all tasks complete and verified:

• Announce: "I'm using the finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."
• REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch
• Follow that skill to verify tests, present options, execute choice

Step 4: Retrospective

After finishing-a-development-branch completes:

• Announce: "Running a retrospective to capture learnings."
• REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use the retrospective skill
• Follow that skill to extract, abstract, route, and persist learnings

When to Stop and Ask for Help

STOP executing immediately when:

• Hit a blocker (missing dependency, test fails, instruction unclear)
• Plan has critical gaps preventing starting
• You don't understand an instruction
• Verification fails repeatedly

Ask for clarification rather than guessing.

When to Revisit Earlier Steps

Return to Review (Step 1) when:

• Partner updates the plan based on your feedback
• Fundamental approach needs rethinking

Don't force through blockers - stop and ask.

Remember

• Review plan critically first
• Create a prompt contract for every non-trivial task before implementation
• Follow plan steps exactly
• Don't skip verifications
• Reference skills when plan says to
• Stop when blocked, don't guess
• Never start implementation on main/master branch without explicit user consent

Integration

Required workflow skills:

• superpowers:using-git-worktrees - REQUIRED: Set up isolated workspace before starting
• superpowers:writing-plans - Creates the plan this skill executes
• prompt-contracts - REQUIRED: Create contract before each task's implementation
• superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch - Complete development after all tasks
• retrospective - REQUIRED: Extract and persist learnings after completion