Plan Lifecycle Management

Standards for managing planning documents through their lifecycle.

Document Lifecycle

Upcoming → Current → Completed

Status Transitions

1. •Upcoming → Current: When implementation begins
2. •Current → Completed: When ALL phases and acceptance criteria are met

File Locations

During Implementation

Update planning documents continuously:

Mark Completed Actions

- [x] ✅ Create user model - Commit: abc123f
- [x] ✅ Add API endpoints - Commit: def456a
- [ ] Implement frontend form

Record Discoveries

• •Dependencies discovered during implementation
• •Architectural decisions made
• •Scope adjustments with rationale
• •Timeline changes

Add Implementation Notes

**Implementation Notes**:
- Chose Passport.js for OAuth due to security maintenance
- Added Redis caching for session performance
- See `documentation/technical/auth/` for patterns

Completion Workflow

When all phases complete:

1. Verify Completion

• • All phases marked complete
• • All acceptance criteria met
• • All tests passing
• • Final validation run

2. Add Completion Summary

## Completion Summary

**Completed**: [Date]
**Final Commit**: [hash]

### Results
- [Key outcomes and deliverables]

### Lessons Learned
- [Insights for future work]

### Follow-up Tasks
- [Any identified follow-up work]

3. Update Status

Change the Status field:

**Status**: Completed  <!-- was: Current -->

4. Move File

mv documentation/planning/current/[plan].md \
   documentation/planning/completed/[plan].md

5. Update Cross-References

Check other planning documents that reference this plan:

• •Update links to new location
• •Update status references

6. Final Commit

Commit must include:

• •Planning document with completion summary
• •File move to completed folder
• •Any cross-reference updates

git add documentation/planning/
git commit -m "docs: complete [feature] implementation - move plan to completed"

Progress Tracking Template

## Implementation Progress

### Phase 1: [Name]
**Status**: ✅ Complete | 🔄 In Progress | ⏳ Pending
**Started**: [Date]
**Completed**: [Date]

**Actions**:
- [x] ✅ Action 1 - [Notes]
- [x] ✅ Action 2 - [Notes]
- [ ] Action 3

### Phase 2: [Name]
**Status**: ⏳ Pending
...

Quality Gates Before Completion

Before marking any phase complete:

• • All tests passing
• • Build succeeds
• • Code reviewed
• • Documentation updated

Before marking plan complete:

• • All phase quality gates passed
• • Acceptance criteria verified
• • No blocking issues remain
• • Completion summary added

Anti-Patterns

• •Forgetting to update status: Always update Status field
• •Leaving stale cross-references: Check other plans for references
• •Missing completion summary: Required for knowledge capture
• •Incomplete moves: File must actually move to completed/
• •Skipping final commit: Changes must be committed

Files Reference

• •documentation/planning/current/ - Active plans
• •documentation/planning/completed/ - Finished plans
• •documentation/planning/upcoming/ - Future plans
• •documentation/workflow/planning-template.md - Plan template