Planning

Universal planning methodology for technical implementation and general project planning.

Mode Selection

Technical Implementation Planning

Use when: Planning software features, system architecture, technical solutions

Core Principles

Always honor YAGNI, KISS, and DRY principles. Be honest, be brutal, straight to the point, and be concise.

Workflow

1. •

   Research & Analysis → references/research-phase.md

   • •Skip if: Provided with researcher reports
2. •

   Codebase Understanding → references/codebase-understanding.md

   • •Skip if: Provided with scout reports
3. •

   Solution Design → references/solution-design.md

4. •

   Plan Organization → references/plan-organization.md

5. •

   Task Breakdown → references/output-standards.md

Output Structure

plans/
└── YYYYMMDD-HHmm-plan-name/
    ├── research/
    ├── reports/
    ├── scout/
    ├── plan.md
    └── phase-XX-*.md

Requirements

• •DO NOT implement code - only create plans
• •Self-contained with necessary context
• •Include code snippets/pseudocode when clarifying
• •Provide options with trade-offs
• •Detailed enough for junior developers

Project Planning (Non-Technical)

Use when: Business, personal, creative, academic, event planning

Domains

• •Business: Product launches, marketing, process improvements
• •Personal: Career development, learning, lifestyle changes
• •Creative: Writing, art, content creation
• •Academic: Research, thesis, study programs
• •Events: Conferences, weddings, community events

Plan Format

Location: docs/plans/PLAN-YYYYMMDD-HHMM-{slug}.md

Frontmatter:

---
plan_id: PLAN-YYYYMMDD-HHMM-{slug}
title: [Project Name]
created: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM
status: draft | active | completed | on_hold
category: business | personal | creative | academic | event
phase: planning | execution | monitoring | complete
priority: critical | high | medium | low
---

Required Sections

1. •Vision & Objectives - SMART goals, alignment
2. •Scope & Deliverables - In/out of scope, acceptance criteria
3. •Action Steps - Phased tasks with owners, durations
4. •Resources Required - People, budget, materials, tools
5. •Timeline & Milestones - Dates, checkpoints, Gantt
6. •Risks & Contingencies - Mitigation, early warnings
7. •Success Metrics - Measurable outcomes, completion criteria

Quick Templates

• •references/business-plan-template.md
• •references/personal-goal-template.md
• •references/generic-plan-template.md

Pre-Planning Protocol

ALWAYS execute before creating new plan:

1. •Check for active plan: test -f docs/plan.md && cat docs/plan.md
2. •If exists: Ask user to continue or create new
3. •If none: Proceed with new plan creation

Quality Standards

Technical Plans

• •Consider long-term maintainability
• •Address security and performance
• •Validate against codebase patterns
• •Research thoroughly when uncertain

Project Plans

• •All 7 sections present
• •Each step has owner and deadline
• •Resources are realistic
• •Risks have contingencies
• •Metrics are SMART

Both Types

• •Be thorough and specific
• •Simple, understandable structure
• •Action-oriented
• •Clear next steps

References

Technical Implementation

• •references/research-phase.md - Research methodology
• •references/codebase-understanding.md - Codebase analysis
• •references/solution-design.md - Architecture patterns
• •references/plan-organization.md - Plan structure
• •references/output-standards.md - Task breakdown standards

Project Templates

• •references/business-plan-template.md
• •references/personal-goal-template.md
• •references/generic-plan-template.md

Plan quality determines implementation success. Be comprehensive.