Create Plan (Rigorous)

Same as create-plan, but more rigorous: add per-task complexity notes, explicitly track dependencies, and get a subagent review before finalizing.

Contract

Prereqs:

• User explicitly requests a more rigorous plan than normal.
• You can spawn a review subagent.
• plan-tooling available on PATH for linting (install via brew install nils-cli).

Inputs:

• User request (goal, scope, constraints, success criteria).
• Optional: repo context (files, architecture notes, existing patterns).

Outputs:

• A new plan file saved to docs/plans/<slug>-plan.md.
• A short response linking the plan path and summarizing key decisions/risks.

Exit codes:

• N/A (conversation/workflow skill)

Failure modes:

• Request remains underspecified and the user won’t confirm assumptions.
• Plan requires repo access/info you can’t obtain.
• Subagent review yields conflicting guidance; reconcile and document the decision.

Workflow

1. Clarify (if needed)

• If underspecified, ask 1–5 “need to know” questions first.
• Use the format from $AGENT_HOME/skills/workflows/conversation/ask-questions-if-underspecified/SKILL.md.

2. Research

• Identify existing patterns and the minimal touch points.
• Identify tricky edge cases, migrations, rollout, and compatibility constraints.

3. Draft the plan (do not implement)

• Same structure as create-plan, plus:
  • Fill a per-task Complexity score (1–10).
  • Explicitly list dependencies and parallelizable tasks.
  • Add a “Rollback plan” that is operationally plausible.

4. Save the plan

• Path: docs/plans/<slug>-plan.md (kebab-case, end with -plan.md).

5. Lint the plan (format + executability)

• Run: plan-tooling validate --file docs/plans/<slug>-plan.md
• Fix until it passes (no placeholders in required fields; explicit validation commands; dependency IDs exist).

6. Subagent review

• Spawn a subagent to review the saved plan file.
• Give it: the plan path + the original request + any constraints.
• Explicitly instruct it: “Do not ask questions; only provide critique and improvements.”
• Review rubric for the subagent:
  • Check for missing required task fields (Location, Description, Dependencies, Acceptance criteria, Validation).
  • Check for placeholder tokens left behind (<...>, TODO, TBD) in required fields.
  • Check task atomicity (single responsibility) and parallelization opportunities (dependency clarity, minimal file overlap).
  • Check that validation is runnable and matches acceptance criteria.
• Incorporate useful feedback into the plan (keep changes minimal and coherent).

7. Final gotchas pass

• Ensure the plan has clear success criteria, validation commands, and risk mitigation.

Plan Template

Shared template (single source of truth):

• skills/workflows/plan/_shared/assets/plan-template.md

Rigorous requirement:

• Fill Complexity for every task (int 1–10).