executing-plans

Executing Plans

Overview

Load plan, review critically, execute all tasks, report when complete.

Announce at start: "I'm using the executing-plans skill to implement this plan."

Note: Tell your human partner that Superpowers works much better with access to subagents. The quality of its work will be significantly higher if run on a platform with subagent support (such as Claude Code or Codex). If subagents are available, use superpowers:subagent-driven-development instead of this skill.

The Process

Step 1: Load and Review Plan

1. Read plan file
2. Review critically - identify any questions or concerns about the plan
3. If concerns: Raise them with your human partner before starting
4. If no concerns: Create TodoWrite and proceed
5. Read Required Skills: from the plan header and invoke each listed skill (e.g. nestjs-best-practices, owasp-security). These are active constraints for the entire execution — not optional. If a listed skill can't be found, STOP and tell the user.

Step 2: Execute Tasks

For each task:

1. Mark as in_progress
2. Follow each step exactly (plan has bite-sized steps)
3. Run verifications as specified
4. Mark as completed

Just-in-time API verification: If a task step references a library API and you're not sure of the exact signature or behavior:

• One context7 query to verify before writing the code
• Do NOT guess from training data when the plan already pinned a version
• Do NOT research alternatives — the plan already decided the approach
• This is verification, not research. The plan says verifyAsync({ algorithms: ['RS256'] }), you confirm that's the right signature for @nestjs/[email protected], then write it.

Security gates (from loaded owasp-security skill): If a task step has OWASP constraints (marked with ⚠ or explicit "MUST" requirements):

• Implement EXACTLY as specified — these are requirements, not suggestions
• If you can't satisfy the constraint, STOP and ask — do not skip it, do not weaken it
• The verification step for that task must confirm the constraint is met
• Example: "MUST use parameterized queries" means you write parameterized queries, you test that they're parameterized, you don't move on until they are

Best-practices compliance (from loaded skills): If a required skill is loaded (e.g. nestjs-best-practices):

• Follow its patterns when writing implementation code
• If the plan contradicts a best-practice, follow the plan — the planner already made that tradeoff
• If the plan is silent on something the skill covers, follow the skill
• This is pattern compliance, not research — don't read reference files "just in case", only when the code you're writing falls under a rule

Step 3: Complete Development

After all tasks complete and verified:

• Announce: "I'm using the finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."
• REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch
• Follow that skill to verify tests, present options, execute choice

When to Stop and Ask for Help

STOP executing immediately when:

• Hit a blocker (missing dependency, test fails, instruction unclear)
• Plan has critical gaps preventing starting
• You don't understand an instruction
• Verification fails repeatedly

Ask for clarification rather than guessing.

When to Revisit Earlier Steps

Return to Review (Step 1) when:

• Partner updates the plan based on your feedback
• Fundamental approach needs rethinking

Don't force through blockers - stop and ask.

Remember

• Review plan critically first
• Follow plan steps exactly
• Don't skip verifications
• Reference skills when plan says to
• Stop when blocked, don't guess
• Never start implementation on main/master branch without explicit user consent

Integration

Required workflow skills:

• superpowers:writing-plans - Creates the plan this skill executes
• superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch - Complete development after all tasks

Optional workflow skills:

• superpowers:using-git-worktrees - Optional: Set up isolated workspace when the task benefits from isolation