Planning Engine

Planning Engine

Use this skill before implementation when sequencing, migration, rollback, validation, or coordination risk needs structure. Cross-file impact alone does not require a plan.

Goal

Create a short, executable plan that helps agents implement the right change in the right order.

If the goal, non-goals, constraints, acceptance criteria, or target docs are not stable, run clarification-gate before writing the plan.

Plan Requirements

A plan should answer:

• What changes
• Why it changes
• Affected systems
• Existing code or docs to reuse
• Migration requirements
• Rollback strategy
• Testing strategy
• Architecture impact
• Risks and open questions
• Version impact and whether user confirmation is needed

Output

Use templates/PLAN.template.md as the default shape. Save plans under docs/plans/ when the repository keeps persistent plans. Otherwise, keep the plan in the conversation and execute it.

Rules

• Keep plans lightweight.
• Prefer the shortest viable path.
• Do not turn routine changes into ceremony.
• Do not create a plan solely because a change touches multiple files.
• Use a spec instead when durable behavior, acceptance criteria, or compatibility alignment is the only need; use both only when execution risk also justifies a plan.
• Put active tasks in docs/TASKS.md only when execution spans multiple stages, people, or agents.
• Do not proceed to implementation if the plan exposes unresolved blockers that would make the work risky or incoherent.
• Use Clarification Gate output as the preferred input when the request started broad, ambiguous, or cross-cutting.
• Use version-governance when the plan implies patch, minor, or major release impact.