maxingaussian/pi-plans/plan-big

Plan Big

Use this skill when the user wants a large, high-risk, or open-ended plan before a repository change.

Pi Setup

Read ../../references/pi-planning-workflow.md and ../../references/state-and-config.md — both normative — and follow their setup, state, language, and reviewer rules. Initialize workspace state with the plans tool (action: "init"); state lives in .git/pi-plans/. Ask every question with the ask_choice tool; run refinement rounds with the refine tool.

Depth Contract

• Inspect the target Git repo read-only before the first product question.
• Ask at least 10 planning questions; no maximum — stop only when the decision tree is genuinely resolved. Each via ask_choice (recommended option first; the tool adds Other second-last and Auto-complete last). Every option you write carries a description of ✓ <advantage> / ✗ <drawback> in the configured language, kept terse — the user chooses by weighing what each option gains against what it costs. Phase them in batches of up to 8: submit ONE questions: [...] form call per phase, think about the answers, then continue with the next batch or follow-ups.
• Batch protocol (0.4.0): when a round has several questions, submit them together as one ask_choice call with questions: [...] (2-8 items, recommended option first per question) — the tool opens one tabbed multiple-choice form with a submit page instead of asking one at a time. After the batch returns, think about the answers, then follow up in later calls (batch again for 2+ related follow-ups; single question for one). Esc on the form returns the answered subset as partial answers — continue with what you got and re-ask only what matters. The final scope confirmation and the execution handoff are ALWAYS single-question calls with autoComplete: false; batches reject those questions.
• Use web research during both brainstorming and refinement when outside facts, patterns, or ecosystem constraints matter, and cite sources in the plan. Optionally (never required) you may also search 1–2 named references — a paper (e.g. arXiv), an engineering blog post, or another repository — whose technique or measurements strengthen the plan's reasoning; cite their URLs in the plan's Evidence section. This optional reference search does not count against the planning-question limit and never requires downloading or analyzing material (that is plan-with-refs' job).
• Ask the final scope confirmation, then write PLAN_v1.md per ../../references/plan-artifact-template.md.
• After each plan version, ask the merged accept/execute question via ask_choice with autoComplete: false — never run refine unless the user picked another round at that question. Default sequence: one reviewer round as three concurrent independent reviewers (refine with reviewers: 3 plus directions you tailor to this project — see Concurrent Reviewers And Tailored Directions in the shared workflow), each returning findings (F-###) and up to five questions (Q-1..Q-5); consolidate per the shared workflow, ask every question with ask_choice, record the answers, then revise. Afterwards the recommended option is ✓ Accept & execute now in the merged accept/execute question. Beyond the default sequence, refine until convergence on high-priority findings, unresolved questions, or evidence gaps; surface at most five per round. Then the merged accept/execute question (ask_choice with autoComplete: false: ✓ Accept & execute now / Accept, don't execute yet / another round) and the execute_plan tool.

Fit

New systems, large feature surfaces, cross-repository or cross-service work, open-ended architecture, safety-sensitive changes, unclear user workflows, or plans whose shape is not yet known. Use plan-with-refs instead when external projects, papers, articles, or documentation must be downloaded and studied before planning choices are safe.