Managing Tickets and Tasks in Plane

Plane Configuration

Connection: Plane MCP server or direct Plane REST API via curl

Premium Features Limitation: Cycles (sprints) are a premium-only feature. Use sprint labels as a workaround:

• Create labels: sprint-1, sprint-2, sprint-3, etc.
• Filter views by sprint label to simulate cycle boards
• Use label colors to visually distinguish sprints (e.g., teal for current sprint)

Multi-Workspace Support: Automatically detects workspace from:

1. Local .plane.json in project root (highest priority)
2. Git remote URL patterns
3. Current directory path
4. PLANE_WORKSPACE environment variable
5. Default workspace from ~/.claude/plane-workspaces.json

Plane REST API Endpoints:

• GET /api/v1/workspaces/{workspace}/projects/{project}/issues/ - List issues
• POST /api/v1/workspaces/{workspace}/projects/{project}/issues/ - Create issue
• PATCH /api/v1/workspaces/{workspace}/projects/{project}/issues/{id}/ - Update issue
• GET /api/v1/workspaces/{workspace}/projects/{project}/states/ - List states/statuses
• GET /api/v1/workspaces/{workspace}/projects/{project}/labels/ - List labels

Authentication: X-Api-Key header with value from workspace-specific env var (e.g., PLANE_API_KEY)

Core Workflows

0. Initialize New Project (First-Time Setup)

When initializing a new project in Plane, execute the full onboarding workflow:

Trigger: "initialize project in plane", "setup plane for project", or first ticket creation in unknown project

Workflow Steps:

1. Create/Verify Project

   • Check if project exists (by identifier)
   • Create if missing with description from README/CLAUDE.md
   • Set project emoji based on theme

2. Generate Absurd Project Art (via fal-text-to-image skill)

   • Generate themed mascot/header image using project context
   • Prompt formula: "A weird [PROJECT_THEME] creature in absurdist corporate art style, [PROJECT_SPECIFIC_ELEMENTS], vibrant colors, slightly unsettling but friendly, like a mascot designed by a 5-year-old CEO"
   • Save to docs/[project]-mascot.png
   • Set as Plane project cover image

3. Create Label Taxonomy

   • Priority: must-have, should-have, could-have (MoSCoW)
   • Sprint: sprint-1, sprint-2, sprint-3, etc. (workaround for premium cycles)
   • Type: infrastructure, feature, ai-pipeline, auth, monetization
   • Effort: effort:S, effort:M, effort:L, effort:XL (optional)
   • Special: blocked, needs-review (status helpers)

4. Seed Backlog from PRD (if PRD exists)

   • Parse feature list from PRD
   • Create one ticket per feature with:
     • Description from PRD user story
     • Appropriate phase/priority/effort labels
     • Acceptance criteria from PRD

5. Establish Art Theme (document in project)

   • Create docs/PLANE_ART_THEME.md with:
     • Theme name and visual language
     • Tone description
     • Usage guidelines for ticket categories
     • Original mascot prompt for variations

Output:

✓ Project initialized: [PROJ] Project Name
  Cover: docs/project-mascot.png (uploaded)
  Labels: 14 created (3 priority, 4 phase, 4 effort, 3 type)
  Backlog: 10 tickets seeded from PRD
  Art Theme: "Theme Name" documented in docs/PLANE_ART_THEME.md

See references/project-initialization.md for detailed workflow.

1. Create Ticket from Story/Task

Parse input for discrete tasks, extract metadata, check duplicates, create via API.

Ticket Metadata:

• Title: Clear, action-oriented
• Description: User story format + acceptance criteria
• Priority: urgent/high/medium/low
• Story points: 1/2/3/5/8/13
• Labels: Auto-detect (security, performance, frontend, backend, sprint-N)

Output format:

✓ Ticket Created: [CWS-015] Fix API authentication bug
Priority: urgent | Points: 3 | Sprint: 1 | Labels: security, backend
URL: https://plane.internal.intelliforia.com/.../CWS-015

See references/create-ticket-from-story.md for full workflow.

2. Audit Board State

Analyze ticket distribution and recommend optimizations.

Audit Checklist:

1. Ticket Clustering - Group related tickets (3+ related → parent issue, 5+ → epic)
2. Label Optimization - Missing labels, redundant labels, new label recommendations
3. Status Distribution - WIP bottlenecks, stale tickets (>14 days in todo)
4. View Recommendations - "My Sprint", "Blocked Items", "Quick Wins", "Tech Debt"
5. Dependency Analysis - Map dependencies, detect circular refs, identify blockers

Audit Depths:

• quick: Basic metrics (<5 seconds)
• standard: With clustering analysis (<15 seconds)
• comprehensive: Full NLP analysis (<60 seconds)

See references/audit-board-state.md for full workflow.

3. Select Next Logical Ticket

Score and recommend optimal ticket based on priority algorithm.

Selection Algorithm:

score = priority_score + effort_score + age_score + dependency_bonus + critical_path_bonus - blocker_penalty

Scoring Weights:

• Priority: urgent=10, high=7, medium=3, low=0
• Effort (favor quick wins): 1-2pts=+5, 3-5pts=+3, 8+pts=-2
• Age (address stale): >14 days=+3, >7 days=+2
• Dependency bonus: +2 per ticket unblocked (cap 10)
• Critical path: +8

Output:

🎯 Recommended: [CWS-004] Fix production build (Score: 21)
Why: URGENT priority, unblocks 2 tickets, on critical path

Alternatives:
1. [CWS-001] API key rotation (18 pts, security critical)
2. [CWS-012] Add CSP (8 pts, quick win - 1 point)

Marking CWS-004 as in-progress...
✓ Status updated, assigned to you, start time logged

See references/select-next-ticket.md for full algorithm.

4. Promote Completed Tickets

After staging merged to main:

1. Query completed tickets in current sprint
2. Verify acceptance criteria met
3. Move to "live" status, add "deployed-production" label
4. Generate changelog from ticket data
5. Send notification email to team

See assets/changelog-email.md for email template.

Hook Integration

Pre-Prompt Hook (Automatic)

Runs before every prompt to check board state.

Checks:

• WIP limit exceeded? (warn if >5 in-progress)
• Current ticket context from git branch
• Dependency conflicts
• Urgent tickets needing attention

Silent mode: Passes without output if no issues.

Stop Hook (Automatic)

Runs at session end to update ticket.

Actions:

1. Detect ticket from git branch (CWS-\d+ pattern)
2. Generate session summary (files changed, commits, duration)
3. Prompt for status update (in-progress/completed/blocked)
4. Append development log to ticket description

BMAD Integration Points

Multi-Workspace Configuration

Config file: ~/.claude/plane-workspaces.json

{
  "workspaces": {
    "intelliforia": {
      "api_key_env": "PLANE_API_KEY",
      "base_url": "plane.internal.intelliforia.com",
      "projects": { "default": "dfb05f73-cab7-4447-a4a1-360bb7ca7177" },
      "wip_limits": { "individual": 3, "team": 7 }
    }
  },
  "detection": {
    "git_remote_patterns": { "intelliforia": "intelliforia" },
    "directory_patterns": { "/home/delorenj/code/intelliforia": "intelliforia" }
  },
  "default_workspace": "intelliforia"
}

Per-project override: Create .plane.json in project root:

{ "workspace": "intelliforia", "project_id": "uuid-here" }

Ticket Template

See assets/ticket-template.md for standard ticket format with:

• User story (As a... I want... So that...)
• Acceptance criteria checklist
• Technical notes and dependencies
• Development log (auto-populated by stop hook)

Error Handling

API failures: Retry with exponential backoff (3 attempts), cache locally for later sync

Ticket not found: Search similar IDs, prompt user, offer to create new ticket

Dependency conflicts: Warn user, offer options (work on blocker first, continue anyway, remove dependency)

WIP limit exceeded: Warn but don't block, suggest completing existing work

Quick Reference

# Create ticket
"Create a ticket for fixing the login bug, high priority, 3 points"

# Board audit
"Run a board audit" or "Audit board state --depth comprehensive"

# Next ticket
"What should I work on next?" or "Select next ticket"

# Promote to production
"Promote completed tickets from Sprint 1 and send changelog"

# Check status
"Show sprint progress" or "List my in-progress tickets"