Plan Interview Skill
Transform rough plans into comprehensive, implementation-ready specifications through adaptive, structured interviews.
When to Use
- Converting a plan or idea into a detailed specification
- Gathering requirements through structured questioning
- Transforming rough documentation into implementation-ready specs
- Ensuring all edge cases, risks, and stakeholders are considered before implementation
Available Components
Command: /plan-interview:interview [plan-file]
Adaptive interview that calibrates depth based on plan complexity:
| Complexity |
Signals |
Questions |
| Simple |
Single feature, clear scope |
10-15 |
| Moderate |
Multi-component, some integrations |
18-23 |
| Complex |
Cross-system, many stakeholders |
22-28 |
Usage:
/plan-interview:interview docs/feature-plan.md
# Output: docs/feature-plan-spec.md
Agent: spec-reviewer
Autonomous quality analysis of specifications across 4 dimensions:
- Completeness (25 pts) - All sections populated?
- Consistency (25 pts) - No contradictions?
- Clarity (25 pts) - No ambiguous language?
- Edge Cases (25 pts) - Error handling defined?
Triggers when you say "review my spec" or "check specification quality".
Interview Phases
- Foundations & Scope - Stakeholders, success criteria, constraints, MVP scope
- Technical Deep-Dive - Architecture, data models, scalability, security
- User Experience - Personas, flows, cognitive load, error recovery
- Risks & Tradeoffs - Risk categorization, blast radius, contingency plans
- Operationalization - Testing, deployment, monitoring
- Wrap-Up (optional) - Only for complex plans with remaining gaps
Interview Philosophy
Core Principle: Depth over breadth. Better to deeply understand critical aspects than superficially cover everything.
Key Techniques:
- Non-obvious questions - Skip what the plan already answers
- Edge probing - What happens in unusual cases?
- Assumption surfacing - Make implicit beliefs explicit
- Contradiction detection - Flag when answers don't align
- Adaptive depth - Probe deeper on complex areas, move faster on clear ones
Spec Output Structure
Generated specs include:
- Overview (problem, solution, success criteria, stakeholders)
- Functional and non-functional requirements
- Technical design (architecture, data models, APIs, security)
- User experience (personas, flows, states, edge cases)
- Risks and mitigations (risk register, tradeoffs, contingency plans)
- Implementation notes (key decisions, dependencies, migration)
- Operationalization (testing, deployment, monitoring)
- Open questions and out-of-scope items
- Phasing (MVP vs future)
References
Load these for deeper guidance during interviews:
references/phase-1-clarifications.md - Foundations questions and pitfallsreferences/phase-2-technical.md - Architecture discussion patternsreferences/phase-3-ux.md - Persona development, UX patternsreferences/phase-4-risks.md - Risk assessment frameworksreferences/interview-techniques.md - Cross-cutting interview skillsreferences/example-spec.md - Annotated high-quality spec example
1---2name: plan-interview3description: Adaptive interview-driven spec generation. Use when converting rough plans into comprehensive specifications, needing structured requirements gathering, or transforming ideas into implementation-ready documentation.4---56# Plan Interview Skill78Transform rough plans into comprehensive, implementation-ready specifications through adaptive, structured interviews.910## When to Use1112- Converting a plan or idea into a detailed specification13- Gathering requirements through structured questioning14- Transforming rough documentation into implementation-ready specs15- Ensuring all edge cases, risks, and stakeholders are considered before implementation1617## Available Components1819### Command: `/plan-interview:interview [plan-file]`2021Adaptive interview that calibrates depth based on plan complexity:2223| Complexity | Signals | Questions |24|------------|---------|-----------|25| **Simple** | Single feature, clear scope | 10-15 |26| **Moderate** | Multi-component, some integrations | 18-23 |27| **Complex** | Cross-system, many stakeholders | 22-28 |2829**Usage:**30```bash31/plan-interview:interview docs/feature-plan.md32# Output: docs/feature-plan-spec.md33```3435### Agent: `spec-reviewer`3637Autonomous quality analysis of specifications across 4 dimensions:38- **Completeness** (25 pts) - All sections populated?39- **Consistency** (25 pts) - No contradictions?40- **Clarity** (25 pts) - No ambiguous language?41- **Edge Cases** (25 pts) - Error handling defined?4243Triggers when you say "review my spec" or "check specification quality".4445## Interview Phases46471. **Foundations & Scope** - Stakeholders, success criteria, constraints, MVP scope482. **Technical Deep-Dive** - Architecture, data models, scalability, security493. **User Experience** - Personas, flows, cognitive load, error recovery504. **Risks & Tradeoffs** - Risk categorization, blast radius, contingency plans515. **Operationalization** - Testing, deployment, monitoring526. **Wrap-Up** (optional) - Only for complex plans with remaining gaps5354## Interview Philosophy5556**Core Principle**: Depth over breadth. Better to deeply understand critical aspects than superficially cover everything.5758**Key Techniques**:59- Non-obvious questions - Skip what the plan already answers60- Edge probing - What happens in unusual cases?61- Assumption surfacing - Make implicit beliefs explicit62- Contradiction detection - Flag when answers don't align63- Adaptive depth - Probe deeper on complex areas, move faster on clear ones6465## Spec Output Structure6667Generated specs include:68- Overview (problem, solution, success criteria, stakeholders)69- Functional and non-functional requirements70- Technical design (architecture, data models, APIs, security)71- User experience (personas, flows, states, edge cases)72- Risks and mitigations (risk register, tradeoffs, contingency plans)73- Implementation notes (key decisions, dependencies, migration)74- Operationalization (testing, deployment, monitoring)75- Open questions and out-of-scope items76- Phasing (MVP vs future)7778## References7980Load these for deeper guidance during interviews:81- `references/phase-1-clarifications.md` - Foundations questions and pitfalls82- `references/phase-2-technical.md` - Architecture discussion patterns83- `references/phase-3-ux.md` - Persona development, UX patterns84- `references/phase-4-risks.md` - Risk assessment frameworks85- `references/interview-techniques.md` - Cross-cutting interview skills86- `references/example-spec.md` - Annotated high-quality spec example
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