denolfe/dotfiles/writing-plans

Writing Plans

Overview

Write comprehensive implementation plans assuming the engineer has zero context for our codebase and questionable taste. Document everything they need to know: which files to touch for each task, code, testing, docs they might need to check, how to test it. Give them the whole plan as bite-sized tasks. DRY. YAGNI. TDD. Frequent commits.

Assume they are a skilled developer, but know almost nothing about our toolset or problem domain. Assume they don't know good test design very well.

Announce at start: "I'm using the writing-plans skill to create the implementation plan."

Context: If working in an isolated worktree, it should have been created via the superpowers:using-git-worktrees skill at execution time.

Save plans to: 3-PLAN.md in the current task folder (read context from 2-DESIGN.md in same folder, e.g. ~/.pi/plans/{YYYY-MM-DD}_{project}_{task}/)

• (User preferences for plan location override this default)

Scope Check

If the spec covers multiple independent subsystems, it should have been broken into sub-project specs during brainstorming. If it wasn't, suggest breaking this into separate plans — one per subsystem. Each plan should produce working, testable software on its own.

File Structure

Before defining tasks, map out which files will be created or modified and what each one is responsible for. This is where decomposition decisions get locked in.

• Design units with clear boundaries and well-defined interfaces. Each file should have one clear responsibility.
• You reason best about code you can hold in context at once, and your edits are more reliable when files are focused. Prefer smaller, focused files over large ones that do too much.
• Files that change together should live together. Split by responsibility, not by technical layer.
• In existing codebases, follow established patterns. If the codebase uses large files, don't unilaterally restructure - but if a file you're modifying has grown unwieldy, including a split in the plan is reasonable.

This structure informs the task decomposition. Each task should produce self-contained changes that make sense independently.

Task Right-Sizing

A task is the smallest unit that carries its own test cycle and is worth a fresh reviewer's gate. When drawing task boundaries: fold setup, configuration, scaffolding, and documentation steps into the task whose deliverable needs them; split only where a reviewer could meaningfully reject one task while approving its neighbor. Each task ends with an independently testable deliverable.

Bite-Sized Task Granularity

Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):

• "Write the failing test" - step
• "Run it to make sure it fails" - step
• "Implement the minimal code to make the test pass" - step
• "Run the tests and make sure they pass" - step
• "Commit" - step

Plan Document Header

Every plan MUST start with this header:

# [Feature Name] Implementation Plan
 
> **For agentic workers:** REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:subagent-driven-development (recommended) or superpowers:executing-plans to implement this plan task-by-task. Steps use checkbox (`- [ ]`) syntax for tracking.
 
**Goal:** [One sentence describing what this builds]
 
**Architecture:** [2-3 sentences about approach]
 
**Tech Stack:** [Key technologies/libraries]
 
**Spec:** [path to the spec/design doc this plan implements — the plan
argues from the spec, so the spec travels with it; executors read both]
 
## Global Constraints
 
[The spec's project-wide requirements — version floors, dependency limits,
naming and copy rules, platform requirements — one line each, with exact
values copied verbatim from the spec. Every task's requirements implicitly
include this section.]
 
## Review Focus
 
[The five input classes or failure modes the spec implies but no task's
tests exercise that are most likely to bite a person using this software
— one line each, naming the input or condition and the behavior a
reasonable person would expect, most likely first. The spec is a vision
document: it says what the software must do, not everything it will
meet, and its silence on an input is not permission for that input to
break the program. Write the list here, once, with the spec in front of
you. Then, for each line, add the test that pins it to the task that
owns the code, in that task's own step style.]
 
---

Task Structure

### Task N: [Component Name]
 
**Files:**
- Create: `exact/path/to/file.py`
- Modify: `exact/path/to/existing.py:123-145`
- Test: `tests/exact/path/to/test.py`
 
**Interfaces:**
- Consumes: [what this task uses from earlier tasks — exact signatures]
- Produces: [what later tasks rely on — exact function names, parameter
  and return types. A task's implementer sees only their own task; this
  block is how they learn the names and types neighboring tasks use.]
 
- [ ] **Step 1: Write the failing test**
 

def test_specific_behavior(): result = function(input) assert result == expected

 
- [ ] **Step 2: Run test to verify it fails**
 
Run: `pytest tests/path/test.py::test_name -v`
Expected: FAIL with "function not defined"
 
- [ ] **Step 3: Write minimal implementation**
 

def function(input): return expected

 
- [ ] **Step 4: Run test to verify it passes**
 
Run: `pytest tests/path/test.py::test_name -v`
Expected: PASS
 
- [ ] **Step 5: Commit**
 

git add tests/path/test.py src/path/file.py git commit -m "feat: add specific feature"

No Placeholders

Every step must contain the actual content an engineer needs. These are plan failures — never write them:

• "TBD", "TODO", "implement later", "fill in details"
• "Add appropriate error handling" / "add validation" / "handle edge cases"
• "Write tests for the above" (without actual test code)
• "Similar to Task N" (repeat the code — the engineer may be reading tasks out of order)
• Steps that describe what to do without showing how (code blocks required for code steps)
• References to types, functions, or methods not defined in any task

Self-Review

After writing the complete plan, look at the spec with fresh eyes and check the plan against it. This is a checklist you run yourself — not a subagent dispatch.

1. Spec coverage: Skim each section/requirement in the spec. Can you point to a task that implements it? List any gaps.

2. Placeholder scan: Search your plan for red flags — any of the patterns from the "No Placeholders" section above. Fix them.

3. Type consistency: Do the types, method signatures, and property names you used in later tasks match what you defined in earlier tasks? A function called clearLayers() in Task 3 but clearFullLayers() in Task 7 is a bug.

4. Review Focus: For each input class or failure mode the spec implies, is there a task whose tests exercise it? The five uncovered ones most likely to bite a person go in the Review Focus section, and each line there gets its test added to the owning task. An empty section means you checked and found none, not that you skipped the check.

If you find issues, fix them inline. No need to re-review — just fix and move on. If you find a spec requirement with no task, add the task.

Task Persistence

If the plan is saved to 3-PLAN.md, the tasks file MUST be saved to 3-PLAN.md.tasks.json in the same task folder.

Execution Handoff

After saving and self-reviewing the plan, link it for your human partner to read. If they have already explicitly supplied an execution method, ask them to review the plan and confirm it captures what they want; wait for that review before implementation, then use the preserved method. Otherwise, ask them to review the plan and choose an execution method before implementation.

When no execution method has already been supplied:

Ask the execution handoff question using this wording:

question: "Plan complete and saved to `3-PLAN.md`. How would you like to execute it?"

• Subagent-driven - A fresh subagent implements each task and a fresh reviewer checks it before the next one starts, then a whole-branch review at the end. Most thorough; costs a fresh context per task and per review.
• Native - I implement every task myself in this session, the way this harness runs work, then one fresh reviewer on the most capable model checks the whole branch. Cheapest and fastest; no independent review until the end. Runs well with a mid-tier session model, since the plan carries the design.

Include: "For this plan I recommend <one of the two>, because <one sentence from the plan: how much the tasks depend on each other's interfaces, how many there are, what a shipped mistake would cost>."

When an execution method has already been supplied:

"Plan complete and saved to `3-PLAN.md`. Please review the plan. Does it capture what you want?"

If Subagent-driven chosen:

• REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:subagent-driven-development

If Native chosen:

• REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:executing-plans