Planning

Create detailed technical implementation plans through research, codebase analysis, solution design, and comprehensive documentation.

IMPORTANT: Before you start, scan unfinished plans in the current project at ./plans/ directory, read the plan.md, if there are relevant plans with your upcoming plan, update them as well. If you're unsure or need more clarifications, use AskUserQuestion tool to ask the user.

Cross-Plan Dependency Detection

During the pre-creation scan, detect and mark blocking relationships between plans:

1. Scan — Read plan.md frontmatter of each unfinished plan (status != completed/cancelled)
2. Compare scope — Check overlapping files, shared dependencies, same feature area
3. Classify relationship:

• New plan needs output of existing plan → new plan blockedBy: [existing-plan-dir]
• New plan changes something existing plan depends on → existing plan blockedBy: [new-plan-dir], new plan blocks: [existing-plan-dir]
• Mutual dependency → both plans reference each other in blockedBy/blocks

1. Bidirectional update — When relationship detected, update BOTH plan.md files' frontmatter
2. Ambiguous? → Use AskUserQuestion with header "Plan Dependency", present detected overlap, ask user to confirm relationship type (blocks/blockedBy/none)

Frontmatter fields (relative plan dir paths):

blockedBy: [260301-1200-auth-system]     # This plan waits on these plans
blocks: [260228-0900-user-dashboard]     # This plan blocks these plans

Status interaction: A plan with blockedBy entries where ANY blocker is not completed → plan status should note blocked in its overview. When all blockers complete, the blocked plan becomes unblocked automatically on next scan.

Default (No Arguments)

If invoked with a task description, proceed with planning workflow. If invoked WITHOUT arguments or with unclear intent, use AskUserQuestion to present available operations:

Present as options via AskUserQuestion with header "Planning Operation", question "What would you like to do?".

Workflow Modes

Default: --auto (analyze task complexity and auto-pick mode).

Add --no-tasks to skip task hydration in any mode.

Load: references/workflow-modes.md for auto-detection logic, per-mode workflows, context reminders.

When to Use

• Planning new feature implementations
• Architecting system designs
• Evaluating technical approaches
• Creating implementation roadmaps
• Breaking down complex requirements

Core Responsibilities & Rules

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

0. Scope Challenge

Load: references/scope-challenge.md Skip if: --fast mode or trivial task (single file fix, <20 word description)

1. Research & Analysis

Load: references/research-phase.md Skip if: Fast mode or provided with researcher reports

2. Codebase Understanding

Load: references/codebase-understanding.md Skip if: Provided with scout reports

3. Solution Design

Load: references/solution-design.md

4. Plan Creation & Organization

Load: references/plan-organization.md

5. Task Breakdown & Output Standards

Load: references/output-standards.md

Process Flow (Authoritative)

flowchart TD
    A[Pre-Creation Check] --> B[Cross-Plan Scan]
    B --> C[Scope Challenge]
    C --> D[Mode Detection]
    D -->|fast| E[Skip Research]
    D -->|hard/parallel/two| F[Spawn Researchers]
    E --> G[Codebase Analysis]
    F --> G
    G --> H[Write Plan via Planner]
    H --> I{Red Team?}
    I -->|Yes| J[Red Team Review]
    I -->|No| K{Validate?}
    J --> K
    K -->|Yes| L[Validation Interview]
    K -->|No| M[Hydrate Tasks]
    L --> M
    M --> N[Output Cook Command]
    N --> O[Journal]

This diagram is the authoritative workflow. Prose sections below provide detail for each node.

Workflow Process

1. Pre-Creation Check → Check Plan Context for active/suggested/none

1b. Cross-Plan Scan → Scan unfinished plans, detect blockedBy/blocks relationships, update both plans 1c. Scope Challenge → Run Step 0 scope questions, select mode (see references/scope-challenge.md) Skip if: --fast mode or trivial task

1. Mode Detection → Auto-detect or use explicit flag (see workflow-modes.md)
2. Research Phase → Spawn researchers (skip in fast mode)
3. Codebase Analysis → Read docs, scout if needed
4. Plan Documentation → Write comprehensive plan via planner subagent
5. Red Team Review → Run /ck:plan red-team {plan-path} (hard/parallel/two modes)
6. Post-Plan Validation → Run /ck:plan validate {plan-path} (hard/parallel/two modes)
7. Hydrate Tasks → Create Claude Tasks from phases (default on, --no-tasks to skip)
8. Context Reminder → Output cook command with absolute path (MANDATORY)
9. Journal → Run /ck:journal to write a concise technical journal entry upon completion

Output Requirements

IMPORTANT: Invoke "/ck:project-organization" skill to organize the outputs.

• DO NOT implement code - only create plans
• Respond with plan file path and summary
• Ensure self-contained plans with necessary context
• Include code snippets/pseudocode when clarifying
• Fully respect the ./docs/development-rules.md file

Task Management

Plan files = persistent. Tasks = session-scoped. Hydration bridges the gap.

Default: Auto-hydrate tasks after plan files are written. Skip with --no-tasks. 3-Task Rule: <3 phases → skip task creation. Fallback: Task tools (TaskCreate/TaskUpdate/TaskGet/TaskList) are CLI-only — unavailable in VSCode extension. If they error, use TodoWrite for tracking. Plan files remain the source of truth; hydration is an optimization, not a requirement.

Load: references/task-management.md for hydration pattern, TaskCreate patterns, cook handoff protocol.

Hydration Workflow

1. Write plan.md + phase files (persistent layer)
2. TaskCreate per phase with addBlockedBy chain (skip if Task tools unavailable)
3. TaskCreate for critical/high-risk steps within phases (skip if Task tools unavailable)
4. Metadata: phase, priority, effort, planDir, phaseFile
5. Cook picks up via TaskList (same session) or re-hydrates (new session)

Active Plan State

Check ## Plan Context injected by hooks:

• "Plan: {path}" → Active plan. Ask "Continue? [Y/n]"
• "Suggested: {path}" → Branch hint only. Ask if activate or create new.
• "Plan: none" → Create new using Plan dir: from ## Naming

After creating plan: node .claude/scripts/set-active-plan.cjs {plan-dir} Reports: Active plans → plan-specific path. Suggested → default path.

Important

DO NOT create plans or reports in USER directory. MUST create plans or reports in THE CURRENT WORKING PROJECT DIRECTORY.

Subcommands

Quality Standards

• Thorough and specific, consider long-term maintainability
• Research thoroughly when uncertain
• Address security and performance concerns
• Detailed enough for junior developers
• Validate against existing codebase patterns

Remember: Plan quality determines implementation success. Be comprehensive and consider all solution aspects.