Planning

Plan Structure

The plan should cover:

• Overview — 1-2 sentence summary of what we're building
• Architecture Decisions — key choices and their rationale
• Files Affected — with action (create/modify/delete) and purpose
• Risks and Mitigations — what could go wrong and how to handle it
• Open Questions — anything still unresolved

Gate

When the user confirms the plan looks good:

1. Write the final plan to PLAN.md in the project root.
2. Tell the user you're moving to task breakdown.

Do NOT proceed to Phase 2 until the user explicitly approves the plan.

Phase 2: Task Breakdown

Decompose the approved plan into ordered, implementable tasks. Read task-breakdown.md in this directory for the detailed breakdown process.

Process

1. Read task-breakdown.md for the full process (dependency graphs, vertical slicing, task structure, sizing).
2. Break the plan into small, verifiable tasks with acceptance criteria.
3. Order tasks by dependency, insert checkpoints.
4. Present the task breakdown to the user for feedback.
5. Iterate until the user approves.

Gate

When the user approves the task breakdown:

1. Write the final task list to TODO.md in the project root.
2. Ensure PLAN.md is still up-to-date (update if the plan evolved during breakdown).
3. Stop. The user will decide when and how to begin implementation.

Do NOT begin implementation. Do NOT spawn a new session.

Phase 3: Finalize

Before stopping, verify:

• PLAN.md exists and reflects the current agreed-upon plan
• TODO.md exists with ordered tasks, acceptance criteria, and checkpoints
• Both files are consistent with each other
• The user has explicitly approved both

Report the status of these files and stop.