Chore Planning Skill

Plan maintenance work with zero behavioral changes.

When to Apply

Activate when:

• Story title contains: Refactor, Update, Upgrade, Migrate, Clean, Reorganize, Remove, Delete
• Story is developer-focused (not user-facing)
• Story improves code quality without changing behavior
• Story addresses technical debt

Focus Areas

When planning chore stories, emphasize:

1. Scope Definition: What exactly changes?
2. Behavioral Preservation: No functional changes
3. Metrics: Before/after measurements
4. Safety: Full test coverage must pass

Context Gathering

Before planning, establish:

• Current state metrics (if applicable)
• Test coverage of affected areas
• Dependencies on the code being changed
• Risk assessment

Plan Output Format

Write to {story_path}/plan.md:

# Implementation Plan: {Story Title}

## Metadata
- **Story**: {story_id}
- **Feature**: {feature_id}
- **Type**: chore (inferred)
- **Created**: {timestamp}
- **Risk Level**: {Low/Medium/High}

## Chore Description
{Technical work to be done and why}

## Scope

### In Scope
- {specific item to change}
- {specific item to change}

### Out of Scope
- {what NOT to touch}
- {tempting but unrelated changes}

## Before/After Metrics (if applicable)

| Metric | Before | Target After |
|--------|--------|--------------|
| Test coverage | X% | >= X% |
| Build time | Xs | <= Xs |
| Bundle size | X KB | <= X KB |
| {other metric} | {value} | {target} |

## Code Impact Matrix

| File | Action | Risk | Notes |
|------|--------|------|-------|
| path/to/file | Modify/Delete/Move | Low/Med | {description} |

## Implementation Steps

### Step 1: {Establish Baseline}
- Run all tests, confirm passing
- Record baseline metrics
- Create safety checkpoint

### Step 2: {First Change}
- **File**: `path/to/file`
- **Action**: {what to do}
- **Verify**: Run tests after change

### Step 3: {Next Change}
...

### Step N: {Final Verification}
- Run full test suite
- Compare metrics to baseline
- Confirm no behavioral changes

## Test Strategy

### Pre-Chore Verification
- [ ] All existing tests pass

### Post-Chore Verification
- [ ] All existing tests still pass
- [ ] No new test failures
- [ ] Metrics meet targets

## Validation Commands
```bash
# Baseline (run before changes)
{test command}
{metrics command}

# After each step
{test command}

# Final validation
{full test suite}
{metrics comparison}

Rollback Plan

{How to undo - git revert or specific steps}

Notes

{Technical context, future considerations}

## Constraints

**CRITICAL - Chores have strict behavioral boundaries:**

- NO behavioral changes
- NO new features
- Tests must pass BEFORE and AFTER
- All existing functionality must work identically
- Document any performance changes

If you discover bugs during the chore, create separate bug stories.

## Applying This Skill

When creating a chore plan:

1. Define exact scope boundaries upfront
2. Establish baseline metrics before any changes
3. Plan incremental changes with test runs between each
4. Never combine refactoring with behavioral changes
5. Ensure test coverage exists before refactoring
6. Create separate stories for bugs found
7. Verify metrics meet targets at the end