plan — Planning-Only Sub-Skill

Drive a work item through the Plan loop (Executor drafts → Reviewer critiques → iterate) until the Reviewer returns APPROVE, then stop. This skill does not enter the execution phase; it hands off to review-loop:execute --session <uuid> (or to a different runtime's execute skill) via the shared session file.

Protocol Imports

The Orchestrator MUST Read each of these files at start. They are the single source of truth for this skill's planning loop and output schemas.

• docs/protocol/session-file.md
• docs/protocol/planning.md
• docs/protocol/executor-output.md
• docs/protocol/reviewer-output.md

Do not re-derive any rule that already lives in a protocol doc. When a step below says "see docs/protocol/<doc>.md §Foo", follow that doc verbatim. The startup read set is complete only after all 4 docs above have been read explicitly; the embedded executor/reviewer prompt bodies are not a substitute for reading executor-output.md and reviewer-output.md.

Orchestrator rules

• Plugin agent-type sandbox bug: every Executor / Reviewer invocation

MUST use subagent_type: general-purpose with the agent's full .md body inlined in the prompt parameter. Never use subagent_type: review-loop:<name> — plugin-defined agent types have their tools silently blocked by the Claude Code sandbox. See CLAUDE.md §"Plugin agent type sandbox bug" for background.

• The session file on disk is the single source of truth. Only the

Orchestrator writes to it. Sub-agents read it.

• The Live Report after each round is not optional — users must see

every review finding.

Invocation

run plan on: <work item description> [--handsfree]

--handsfree forwards decision-type Executor questions to the Reviewer instead of pausing for the user. External-info questions still pause regardless of mode. See docs/protocol/planning.md §Question classification.

Step 0 — Load config and parse flags

Before loading config or checking backend availability, Read the 4 Protocol Imports docs listed above.

1. Read .review-loop/config.md if present; otherwise fall back to the

defaults documented in skills/review-loop/SKILL.md §Configuration.

1. Detect --handsfree in the invocation message. If present (or

handsfree: true in config), enable handsfree for this session.

1. Confirm the Reviewer backend is available per reviewer: config

(see docs/protocol/planning.md §Reviewer dispatch). For reviewer: codex, run which codex; if missing, suggest reviewer: subagent and exit.

Step 0.5 — Initialize session file

1. Generate a lowercase UUID.
2. Create .review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.md with the canonical section

list per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Canonical sections, using the plan entry-mode column of §Entry-mode initialization table.

• ## Approved Plan body is empty; no Source sub-field is written

during planning draft rounds.

• ## Draft Plan is present; it will be overwritten by each planning

round's Executor output (see docs/protocol/session-file.md §Draft Plan and docs/protocol/planning.md §3).

• ## Current Phase: planning.

1. Write the initial ## Session Metadata block. entry_point: plan.

plan_source is omitted during planning draft rounds — it is written on APPROVE only (per Phase 1 decision; see docs/protocol/session-file.md §Session Metadata schema).

1. Acquire the single-writer lock per

docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file lifecycle.

1. Tell the user the session path so they can inspect it.

Step 1 — Parse the work item

Extract from the user's message: title, problem description, context, acceptance criteria. If critical information is missing, ask ONE clarifying question before proceeding.

Step 1.5 — Detect pre-existing state (no auto-dispatch)

`plan` does not auto-route into execution. If the work item looks like it should skip the planning loop, print a suggestion and exit instead of dispatching — the user is the one who chose the plan entry point, and the hand-off is their call.

Check:

• Plan already exists: the user's message says "review this",

points at an already-written plan doc, or the conversation shows an approved plan. → Suggest:

  Detected: existing plan in the conversation/context.
  Next:  review-loop:execute --plan "<text|path>" --title "<title>"
         (or review-loop:execute --session <uuid> if you already have a session)

• Code already implemented: git status shows substantial,

task-relevant changes. → Suggest:

  Detected: implementation appears to already be in the working tree.
  Next:  review-loop:execute --review-only --description "<what was done>"

• Neither → proceed to Step 1.6.

Print the suggestion and exit. Do not dispatch Executor / Reviewer. Before exiting on the suggest-and-exit branch, release the single-writer lock per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file lifecycle before exiting. The user can rerun with the suggested command if they agree.

Step 1.6 — Historical context retrieval (optional, fail-silently)

This step is strictly optional. Skip it entirely and silently if no external memory tool is available. Never ask the user to install anything. Never mention the tool name to users who don't have it. The fail-silently contract applies to the entire lifecycle — probe failure, runtime failure, malformed output — per CLAUDE.md §"Optional integrations must fail silently".

1. Availability probe: check if a mempalace_search MCP tool is

listed, OR run which mempalace via Bash. If neither, skip.

1. Resume dedup: if the session file already carries a

## Historical Context section (should not happen for plan fresh init — guard anyway), skip.

1. Extract 1-2 specific search terms from the work item.
2. Call the memory tool with a 10-second timeout; kill the probe at

the deadline rather than awaiting it. If the call errors, hangs, times out, returns non-zero, produces stderr, or returns malformed output, silently skip this step and continue.

1. If the top results parse cleanly, append up to 3 bullets under a

## Historical Context section. Otherwise skip — no empty section.

Step 2 — Planning round loop

Run the planning loop per docs/protocol/planning.md §Round loop. For this skill specifically:

• Each round: update context file → Executor → update context file

(write the round's draft into ## Draft Plan) → optional context-persist sub-step (§3.5 in the protocol doc) → Reviewer → parse → Live Report.

• Loop control: APPROVE → promote ## Draft Plan into

## Approved Plan with - Source: reviewer-approved, write plan_source: reviewer-approved to ## Session Metadata, remove `## Draft Plan` entirely from the session file, and exit the planning loop (do NOT continue into execution — that is the execute skill's job).

• REQUEST_CHANGES → feed feedback into the next Executor round.
• Soft-limit prompt + stuck detection per

docs/protocol/planning.md §Loop control.

Executor dispatch (Claude Code)

Follow docs/protocol/planning.md §Executor dispatch, Claude Code block. Reminder:

Dispatch anchor: plan_executor_dispatch_skill. The planning-phase Executor is a judgment-tier dispatch; missing tier defaults to judgment.

Agent tool parameters:
  subagent_type: general-purpose
  model: {executor_model if set and != "inherit"; else judgment_model if set; else omit}
  prompt: |
    You are the Executor in a review-loop workflow.

    {contents of agents/executor.md body}

    Read the context file first: {session_file_path}
    DO NOT modify the context file.

    ## Your Task
    Produce a detailed solution plan following the output format in your
    instructions.

    {if round > 1:}
    ## Previous Reviewer Feedback (address each point)
    {reviewer_feedback}

CRITICAL — plugin sandbox bug: Never use subagent_type: review-loop:executor. That agent type has tools silently blocked — Executor will run with tool_uses: 0 and hallucinate output. Always use subagent_type: general-purpose with the executor body inlined as shown above.

Reviewer dispatch (Claude Code)

Follow docs/protocol/planning.md §Reviewer dispatch, Claude Code block. Two modes (codex and subagent) controlled by reviewer: in .review-loop/config.md. For subagent mode, subagent_type is general-purpose with the agents/reviewer.md body inlined plus an explicit "Report only, do not modify any files" instruction.

Step 3 — Exit with hand-off hint

After the Reviewer returns APPROVE:

1. The session file now has ## Approved Plan populated with

- Source: reviewer-approved and ## Session Metadata.plan_source: reviewer-approved. ## Draft Plan has been removed.

1. Release the lock per docs/protocol/session-file.md §Lock file

lifecycle.

1. Print the delivery hand-off:

   ── review-loop:plan — approved ──────────────────
   Session: {uuid}
   Session file: .review-loop/sessions/{uuid}.md
   Plan rounds: {N}
   Status: Approved (plan_source: reviewer-approved)

   Next: review-loop:execute --session {uuid}
   ────────────────────────────────────────────────

The plan skill does not deliver code and does not enter any execution stage. completed_stages is not minted here — that is strictly the execute skill's responsibility. No auto-dispatch.

Context Management

The Orchestrator keeps a minimal state between rounds (session path, latest Reviewer feedback, round number). All durable state lives on disk in the session file. See docs/protocol/planning.md §Context management discipline.