taoidle/plan-cascade/mega-plan

Mega Plan

A project-level orchestration system that sits above hybrid-ralph to manage multiple parallel features as a unified project plan.

Auto-Recovery Protocol (CRITICAL)

At the START of any interaction, perform this check to recover context after compression/truncation:

1. Check if .mega-execution-context.md exists in the project root
2. If YES:

• Read the file content using Read tool
• Display: "Detected ongoing mega-plan execution"
• Show current batch and active worktrees from the file
• CRITICAL: All feature work MUST happen in worktrees, NOT main branch
• If unsure of state, suggest: /mega:resume --auto-prd

1. If NO but mega-plan.json exists:

• Run: uv run python "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/mega-plan/scripts/mega-context-reminder.py" both
• This will generate the context file and display current state

This ensures context recovery even after:

• Context compression (AI summarizes old messages)
• Context truncation (old messages deleted)
• New conversation session
• Claude Code restart

Architecture

Level 1: Mega Plan (Project Level)
    └── Level 2: Features (Feature Level) = hybrid:worktree
              └── Level 3: Stories (Story Level) = hybrid internal parallelism

Quick Start

Create a Mega Plan

Generate a mega-plan from your project description:

/mega:plan Build an e-commerce platform with user authentication, product catalog, shopping cart, and order processing

This will:

1. Analyze your project description
2. Break it into features with dependencies
3. Create mega-plan.json, mega-findings.md, .mega-status.json
4. Display the plan for review

Approve and Execute

After reviewing the mega-plan:

/mega:approve

Or with automatic PRD approval for all features:

/mega:approve --auto-prd

This will:

1. Calculate feature batches based on dependencies
2. Create worktrees for Batch 1 features
3. Generate PRDs in each worktree
4. Wait for PRD approvals (or auto-approve with --auto-prd)
5. Execute story batches within each feature
6. Progress to next feature batch when complete

Monitor Progress

/mega:status

Shows:

• Overall project progress percentage
• Feature status by batch
• Story progress within each feature
• Current batch details

Complete and Merge

When all features are complete:

/mega:complete

This will:

1. Verify all features are complete
2. Merge features in dependency order
3. Clean up worktrees and branches
4. Remove mega-plan files

File Structure

project-root/
├── mega-plan.json              # Project-level plan
├── mega-findings.md            # Shared findings (read-only in worktrees)
├── .mega-status.json           # Execution status
├── .worktree/
│   ├── feature-auth/
│   │   ├── prd.json           # Feature PRD
│   │   ├── findings.md        # Feature-specific findings
│   │   ├── progress.txt       # Story progress
│   │   ├── mega-findings.md   # Read-only link to shared findings
│   │   └── .planning-config.json
│   └── feature-products/
│       └── ...

Commands Reference

/mega:plan

Generate a mega-plan for project-level multi-feature orchestration. Breaks a complex project into parallel features with dependencies.

/mega:plan [options] <project description> [design-doc-path]

Parameters:

Parameters are saved to mega-plan.json and propagated to /mega:approve and feature-level /approve commands.

Example:

/mega:plan --flow full --tdd auto Create a blog platform with user accounts, article management, comments, and RSS feeds

/mega:edit

Edit the mega-plan interactively. Add, remove, or modify features.

/mega:edit

/mega:approve

Approve the mega-plan and start feature execution. Creates worktrees and generates PRDs for each feature in batch-by-batch order.

/mega:approve [options]

Parameters:

Approval Modes:

/mega:status

Show detailed status of mega-plan execution including feature progress, story completion, and batch summary.

/mega:status

/mega:complete

Complete the mega-plan by cleaning up planning files. All features should already be merged via /mega:approve.

/mega:complete

mega-plan.json Format

{
  "metadata": {
    "created_at": "2026-01-28T10:00:00Z",
    "version": "1.0.0"
  },
  "goal": "Project goal",
  "description": "Original user description",
  "execution_mode": "auto",
  "target_branch": "main",
  "features": [
    {
      "id": "feature-001",
      "name": "feature-auth",
      "title": "User Authentication",
      "description": "Detailed description for PRD generation",
      "priority": "high",
      "dependencies": [],
      "status": "pending"
    }
  ]
}

Feature Status Flow

pending → prd_generated → approved → in_progress → complete
                                           ↓
                                        failed

Execution Modes

Auto Mode

Features and their story batches execute automatically:

Batch 1 (Features) → PRDs generated → approved → stories execute → complete
         ↓
Batch 2 (Features) → PRDs generated → approved → stories execute → complete
         ↓
All complete → /mega:complete

Manual Mode

Each batch waits for explicit confirmation:

Batch 1 → PRDs generated → [you review] → /approve in each worktree
         ↓
Batch 2 → PRDs generated → [you review] → /approve in each worktree
         ↓
All complete → /mega:complete

Workflows

Complete Workflow

1. /mega:plan "Build e-commerce platform"
   ↓
2. Review generated mega-plan.json
   ↓
3. /mega:edit (if needed) or /mega:approve
   ↓
4. Feature worktrees created (Batch 1)
   ↓
5. PRDs generated in each worktree
   ↓
6. Review and /approve in each worktree (or use --auto-prd)
   ↓
7. Stories execute in parallel
   ↓
8. Monitor with /mega:status
   ↓
9. Batch 2 features start when Batch 1 complete
   ↓
10. All complete → /mega:complete

Multi-Terminal Workflow

# Terminal 1: Main orchestration
/mega:plan "Project description"
/mega:approve
/mega:status  # Monitor progress
 
# Terminal 2: Feature 1 work
cd .worktree/feature-auth
/approve  # Approve PRD
# ... stories execute ...
 
# Terminal 3: Feature 2 work (parallel!)
cd .worktree/feature-products
/approve  # Approve PRD
# ... stories execute ...
 
# Terminal 1: After all complete
/mega:complete

Relationship with Hybrid Ralph

Mega Plan orchestrates multiple hybrid-ralph workflows:

Core Python Modules

mega_generator.py

Generates mega-plan from project descriptions.

# Validate mega-plan
uv run python mega_generator.py validate
 
# Show execution batches
uv run python mega_generator.py batches
 
# Show progress
uv run python mega_generator.py progress

mega_state.py

Thread-safe state management.

# Read mega-plan
uv run python mega_state.py read-plan
 
# Read status
uv run python mega_state.py read-status
 
# Sync from worktrees
uv run python mega_state.py sync-worktrees

feature_orchestrator.py

Orchestrates feature execution.

# Show execution plan
uv run python feature_orchestrator.py plan
 
# Show status
uv run python feature_orchestrator.py status

merge_coordinator.py

Coordinates final merge.

# Verify all complete
uv run python merge_coordinator.py verify
 
# Show merge plan
uv run python merge_coordinator.py plan
 
# Complete (merge & cleanup)
uv run python merge_coordinator.py complete

Findings Management

Shared Findings (mega-findings.md)

• Located at project root
• Contains findings relevant to all features
• Read-only copy placed in each worktree
• Updated only from project root

Feature Findings (findings.md)

• Located in each feature worktree
• Contains feature-specific discoveries
• Tagged with story IDs
• Independent per feature

Best Practices

1. Clear Feature Boundaries: Each feature should be independent enough to develop in isolation
2. Minimize Dependencies: Fewer dependencies mean more parallelism
3. Meaningful Names: Use descriptive feature names (they become directory names)
4. Review PRDs: Take time to review generated PRDs before approving
5. Monitor Progress: Use /mega:status regularly to track execution
6. Handle Failures: If a feature fails, fix it in its worktree before completing

Troubleshooting

Worktree Conflict

Error: Worktree already exists

Solution: Remove stale worktree or use different feature name.

Merge Conflict

Error: Merge conflict in feature-001

Solution:

1. Resolve conflict in target branch
2. Re-run /mega:complete

Incomplete Features

Error: Incomplete features: feature-002, feature-003

Solution:

1. Check /mega:status for details
2. Complete stories in incomplete features
3. Re-run /mega:complete

See Also

• hybrid-ralph - Feature-level PRD execution
• planning-with-files - Base planning skill