Writing Plans

Overview

Write comprehensive implementation plans assuming the engineer has zero context. Document everything: which files to touch, code, testing commands, how to verify. Give the whole plan as bite-sized tasks.

Assume a skilled developer who knows almost nothing about the toolset or problem domain.

Save plans to: docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<feature-name>.md

Plan Document Header

Every plan MUST start with:

# [Feature Name] Implementation Plan

> **For Claude:** Use executing-plans skill to implement this plan task-by-task.

**Goal:** [One sentence]
**Architecture:** [2-3 sentences about approach]
**Tech Stack:** [Key technologies/libraries]

---

Bite-Sized Task Granularity

Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):

• •"Write the failing test" — step
• •"Run it to verify it fails" — step
• •"Implement minimal code to pass" — step
• •"Run tests to verify they pass" — step
• •"Commit" — step

Task Structure

### Task N: [Component Name]

**Files:**
- Create: `exact/path/to/file.go`
- Modify: `exact/path/to/existing.go:123-145`
- Test: `exact/path/to/file_test.go`

**Step 1: Write the failing test**
[Complete test code]

**Step 2: Run test to verify it fails**
Run: `go test ./path/to/... -run TestName -v`
Expected: FAIL

**Step 3: Write minimal implementation**
[Complete implementation code]

**Step 4: Run test to verify it passes**
Run: `go test ./path/to/... -run TestName -v`
Expected: PASS

**Step 5: Commit**

Principles

• •Exact file paths always
• •Complete code in plan (not "add validation")
• •Exact commands with expected output
• •DRY, YAGNI, TDD, frequent commits
• •Assume zero context — spell everything out

Execution Handoff

After saving, offer:

1. •Same session — Execute with executing-plans skill, review between batches
2. •Parallel agents — Dispatch subagents per task if tasks are independent