Planning Workflow
Use this for design and planning requests. Plans should be concrete, ordered, and grounded in the actual codebase.
When to Plan
- •New features with multiple components
- •Significant refactoring
- •Changes affecting multiple systems
- •Unfamiliar codebase or technology
- •When the user explicitly asks for a plan
Planning Process
Step 1: Clarify Requirements
Before planning, ensure you understand:
- •Goal: What problem are we solving?
- •Scope: What's in and out of scope?
- •Constraints: Time, technology, compatibility requirements?
- •Success criteria: How do we know when it's done?
Ask for missing details. Don't assume.
Step 2: Research the Codebase
- •Find existing patterns and conventions
- •Identify code that will be modified
- •Look for similar implementations to follow
- •Note dependencies and potential conflicts
Step 3: Create the Plan
Structure the plan with:
Overview
- •One sentence: what we're building and why
- •Key decisions made
Implementation Steps
Ordered list of concrete tasks:
- •What to do
- •Which files/components affected
- •Any dependencies on other steps
For Large Projects (SDLC Phases)
For major features or new projects, structure around:
- •Requirements: Document detailed requirements
- •Design: API contracts, data models, component structure
- •Implementation: Ordered build steps
- •Testing: Test strategy, coverage expectations
- •Deployment: Rollout plan, feature flags, monitoring
- •Documentation: User docs, API docs, runbooks
Step 4: Identify Risks
For each significant risk:
- •What could go wrong?
- •What's the impact?
- •How do we mitigate it?
Common risks:
- •Breaking existing functionality
- •Performance degradation
- •Security vulnerabilities
- •Data migration issues
- •Integration failures
Step 5: Define Test Strategy
- •What tests will be added?
- •What existing tests might need updates?
- •What manual testing is needed?
- •What's the acceptance criteria?
Step 6: Note Documentation Updates
- •README changes?
- •API documentation?
- •User-facing documentation?
- •Architecture decision records?
Step 7: Request Approval
Explicitly ask for approval before implementing. Include:
- •Summary of the approach
- •Key decisions and trade-offs
- •Any alternatives considered
- •What feedback you need
Plan Template
markdown
## Overview [One sentence summary] ## Steps 1. [Step 1] - Files: [files affected] - Depends on: [prior steps] 2. [Step 2] ... ## Risks - [Risk 1]: [Mitigation] ## Testing - [ ] [Test case 1] - [ ] [Test case 2] ## Documentation - [ ] [Doc update 1] ## Questions for Review - [Question 1]?
Reminders
- •Stay language-agnostic unless the codebase dictates otherwise
- •Reference
shared/guidelines/for security, testing, and style standards - •Include running tests in the plan
- •Plans can be iterative—it's OK to revise after starting