This skill should be used when starting any feature, significant change, or architectural decision — sets quality bar, sequences design before implementation.
Optional integration: If a
superpowersplugin is installed, this skill can delegate to itsbrainstorming,writing-plans, andexecuting-plansskills. Otherwise, all phases are performed directly. Cortex's owncode-revieweragent is used for plan review.
TL;DR: Quality bar → brainstorm+doc → plan → audit → execute.
If a product-identity skill is available (e.g., via a domain pack), invoke it to verify the feature aligns with the product mission and respects gating philosophy.
Brainstorm by listing 3-5 approaches, evaluating tradeoffs for each, and selecting the best fit. Write findings to the design doc.
Design doc → tasks/design-[feature-name].md (canonical — see CLAUDE.md).
Decompose the work into atomic waves with a commit checkpoint per wave. Each wave should be independently shippable.
Run the 15-item self-audit checklist from references/plan-audit-checklist.md across 3 tiers:
Tier 1: Codebase Accuracy — Did I Read every file to modify? Do types/signatures match? Did I check for existing utilities? Are file paths verified?
Tier 2: Constraint Compliance — Pipeline budget respected? PostgREST queries safe? Middleware updated for new routes? Env vars in all 3 locations?
Tier 3: Architectural Integrity — Scope check? Waves independently shippable? No forward dependencies? Test expectations per wave?
Write ## Plan Self-Audit at the bottom of the plan file with pass/fail + evidence for each item. Tier 1/2 failures = fix the plan before proceeding. Tier 3 failures are flagged but don't hard-block if the user accepts the tradeoff.
See examples/design-doc-template.md for the design doc format.
For features touching pipeline, scoring, security, or multi-wave implementations: launch the Cortex code-reviewer agent (/cortex:code-review) for a 3-pass review against the plan file. The reviewer checks for:
Incorporate all CRITICAL and IMPORTANT findings into the plan before calling ExitPlanMode. MINOR findings are noted but don't block approval.
Proceed with implementation following the plan's wave structure. Execute one wave at a time, verify before proceeding to the next.