Plan Phase

Create executable plans for a phase. Orchestrates research → planning → validation.

Dynamic Context

Phase info from CLI: !python3 -m erirpg.cli coder-plan-phase $ARGUMENTS 2>/dev/null || echo '{"error": "CLI failed"}'

Project state: !cat .planning/STATE.md 2>/dev/null | head -20

Phase goal from ROADMAP: !grep -A 5 "Phase $0" .planning/ROADMAP.md 2>/dev/null | head -6

Existing research: !ls .planning/phases/$0-*/RESEARCH.md 2>/dev/null && echo "exists" || echo "none"

Existing context: !ls .planning/phases/$0-*/CONTEXT.md 2>/dev/null && echo "exists" || echo "none"

Planning Flow

1. Parse CLI Response

Extract: phase_number, phase_name, phase_dir, goal, has_context, has_research

2. Detect Research Depth

Level 0 - Skip: Pure internal work, existing patterns only Level 1 - Quick: Confirm known library syntax (2-5 min) Level 2 - Standard: New library, external API, choose between options (15-30 min) Level 3 - Deep: Architecture, security, database design (1+ hour)

Run detection: ./scripts/detect-depth.sh "$goal"

See reference.md for full indicator list.

3. Execute Research (if depth > 0)

Level 1: Inline verification, no agent needed.

Level 2-3: Spawn eri-phase-researcher:

code

Task(
  subagent_type="eri-phase-researcher",
  prompt="Research implementation for phase {phase_number}: {phase_name}

<depth>{RESEARCH_DEPTH}</depth>
<phase_goal>{goal}</phase_goal>
<context_md>{CONTEXT.md content or 'None'}</context_md>

Create {phase_dir}/RESEARCH.md with:
- Recommended approach with rationale
- Integration points with existing code
- Pitfalls specific to this phase
- Confidence level (HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW)"
)

Confidence gate:

Confidence	Action
HIGH	Proceed to planning
MEDIUM	Warn user, proceed
LOW	STOP — see low-confidence template

4. Create Plans

Spawn eri-planner with full context:

code

Task(
  subagent_type="eri-planner",
  prompt="Create execution plans for phase {phase_number}: {phase_name}

<project>{PROJECT.md content}</project>
<roadmap>{ROADMAP.md content}</roadmap>
<state>{STATE.md content}</state>
<context>{CONTEXT.md or 'No CONTEXT.md'}</context>
<research>{RESEARCH.md or 'Level 0 - no research'}</research>
<mode>{'gap_closure' if --gaps else 'standard'}</mode>

Create PLAN.md files with:
- 2-3 tasks per plan (stay under 50% context)
- Wave assignments for parallel execution
- must_haves in frontmatter (goal-backward derived)
- Runtime verification criteria"
)

5. Validate Plans (if enabled)

Check config.json for plan_check: true (default).

Spawn eri-plan-checker:

code

Task(
  subagent_type="eri-plan-checker",
  prompt="Validate plans for phase {phase_number}

<phase_dir>{phase_dir}</phase_dir>
<context>{CONTEXT.md content}</context>

Check: requirement coverage, task completeness, dependencies,
key links, scope sanity, must-haves derivation, context compliance.

Return: Issues with severity, or 'PASSED'."
)

If issues: Spawn planner in revision mode.

6. Commit Plans

bash

git add .planning/phases/{phase_dir}/
git commit -m "plan(phase-{N}): create execution plans for {phase_name}"

7. Completion

Update STATE.md and show completion box.

CONTEXT.md Flow

If CONTEXT.md exists, it flows through entire pipeline:

Stage	How Used
Research	Locked: don't research alternatives. Discretion: research freely. Deferred: ignore.
Planning	Locked: implement exactly. Discretion: best call. Deferred: exclude.
Checking	Verify locked decisions have tasks, deferred excluded.

Never skip CONTEXT.md. Every agent receives it.

Critical Rules

•Research mandatory for Level 2-3 — Don't skip external integrations
•Stop on LOW confidence — Get user approval first
•CONTEXT.md flows everywhere — Every agent receives it
•Plan check catches issues — Don't skip validation
•Show completion box — Never say "ready when you are"

For detailed documentation, see reference.md.