/dev:plan — Phase Planning

You are the orchestrator for /dev:plan. This skill creates detailed, executable plans for a specific phase. Plans are the bridge between the roadmap and actual code — they must be specific enough for an executor agent to follow mechanically. Your job is to stay lean, delegate heavy work to Task() subagents, and keep the user's main context window clean.

Context Budget

Reference: skills/shared/context-budget.md for the universal orchestrator rules.

Additionally for this skill:

• Minimize reading subagent output — read only plan frontmatter for summaries
• Delegate all research and planning work to subagents — the orchestrator routes, it doesn't plan

Prerequisites

• .planning/config.json exists (run /dev:begin first)
• .planning/ROADMAP.md exists with at least one phase
• .planning/REQUIREMENTS.md exists

---

Argument Parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS according to skills/shared/phase-argument-parsing.md.

Standard Invocation

/dev:plan <N> — Plan phase N

Parse the phase number and optional flags:

Argument	Meaning
3	Plan phase 3
3 --skip-research	Plan phase 3, skip research step
3 --assumptions	Surface assumptions before planning phase 3
3 --gaps	Create gap-closure plans for phase 3 (from VERIFICATION.md)
3 --teams	Plan phase 3 using specialist agent teams
(no number)	Use current phase from STATE.md

Subcommands

Subcommand	Meaning
add	Append a new phase to the end of the roadmap
insert <N>	Insert a new phase at position N (uses decimal numbering)
remove <N>	Remove phase N from the roadmap

Freeform Text Guard

Before any context loading, check whether $ARGUMENTS looks like freeform text rather than a valid invocation. Valid patterns are:

• Empty (no arguments)
• A phase number: integer (3, 03) or decimal (3.1)
• A subcommand: add, insert <N>, remove <N>
• A phase number followed by flags: 3 --skip-research, 3 --assumptions, 3 --gaps, 3 --teams
• The word check (legacy alias)

If $ARGUMENTS does NOT match any of these patterns — i.e., it contains freeform words that are not a recognized subcommand or flag — then stop execution and respond:

`/dev:plan` expects a phase number or subcommand.

Usage:
  /dev:plan <N>              Plan phase N
  /dev:plan <N> --gaps       Create gap-closure plans
  /dev:plan add              Add a new phase
  /dev:plan insert <N>       Insert a phase at position N
  /dev:plan remove <N>       Remove phase N

Then suggest the appropriate skill based on the text content:

If the text looks like...	Suggest
A task, idea, or feature request	/dev:todo to capture it, or /dev:explore to investigate
A bug or debugging request	/dev:debug to investigate the issue
A review or quality concern	/dev:review to assess existing work
Anything else	/dev:explore for open-ended work

Do NOT proceed with planning. The user needs to use the correct skill.

---

Orchestration Flow: Standard Planning

Execute these steps in order for standard /dev:plan <N> invocations.

---

Step 1: Parse and Validate (inline)

Reference: skills/shared/config-loading.md for the tooling shortcut (state load, plan-index, phase-info) and config field reference.

1. Parse $ARGUMENTS for phase number and flags
2. Read .planning/config.json for settings (see config-loading.md for field reference)
3. Resolve depth profile: run node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/towline-tools.js config resolve-depth to get the effective feature/gate settings for the current depth. Store the result for use in later gating decisions.
4. Validate:
   • Phase exists in ROADMAP.md
   • Phase directory exists at .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/
   • Phase does not already have PLAN.md files (unless user confirms re-planning)
5. If no phase number given, read current phase from .planning/STATE.md
6. CONTEXT.md existence check: If the phase is non-trivial (has 2+ requirements or success criteria), check whether .planning/CONTEXT.md exists. If missing, warn: "Phase {N} has no CONTEXT.md. Consider running /dev:discuss {N} first to capture your preferences. Continue anyway?" If user says no, stop. If yes, continue.

If phase already has plans:

• Use AskUserQuestion (pattern: yes-no from skills/shared/gate-prompts.md): question: "Phase {N} already has plans. Re-plan from scratch?" header: "Re-plan?" options:
  • label: "Yes" description: "Delete existing plans and create new ones"
  • label: "No" description: "Keep existing plans unchanged"
• If "Yes": delete existing PLAN.md files in the phase directory
• If "No" or "Other": stop

---

Step 2: Load Context (inline)

Read context file PATHS and metadata. Build lean context bundles for subagent prompts — include paths and one-line descriptions, NOT full file bodies. Agents have the Read tool and will pull file contents on-demand.

1. Read .planning/ROADMAP.md — extract current phase goal, dependencies, requirements
2. Read .planning/REQUIREMENTS.md — extract requirements mapped to this phase
3. Read .planning/CONTEXT.md (if exists) — extract only the `## Decision Summary` section (everything from `## Decision Summary` to the next `##` heading). If no Decision Summary section exists (legacy CONTEXT.md), fall back to extracting the full `## Decisions (LOCKED...)` and `## Deferred Ideas` sections.
4. Read .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/CONTEXT.md (if exists) — extract only the `## Decision Summary` section. Fall back to full locked decisions + deferred sections if no Decision Summary exists.
5. Read .planning/config.json — extract feature flags, depth, model settings
6. List prior SUMMARY.md file paths and extract frontmatter metadata only (status, provides, key_files). Do NOT read full SUMMARY bodies — agents pull these on-demand via Read tool.
7. Read .planning/research/SUMMARY.md (if exists) — extract research findings

Digest-select depth for prior SUMMARYs (Step 6):

Reference: skills/shared/digest-select.md for the full depth rules and examples. In short: direct dependencies get frontmatter + key decisions, transitive get frontmatter only, 2+ back get skipped.

Collect all of this into a context bundle that will be passed to subagents.

---

Step 3: Assumption Surfacing (inline, if --assumptions flag)

IMPORTANT: This step is FREE (no subagents). It happens entirely inline.

Before spawning any agents, present your assumptions about how this phase should be approached:

Phase {N}: {Name}
Goal: {from roadmap}

My assumptions about this phase:

1. **Approach**: I'm assuming we'll {approach}
   - Correct? [yes/no/adjust]

2. **Key technology**: I'm assuming we'll use {tech}
   - Correct? [yes/no/adjust]

3. **Architecture**: I'm assuming {architectural assumption}
   - Correct? [yes/no/adjust]

4. **Scope boundary**: I'm assuming {scope assumption}
   - Correct? [yes/no/adjust]

For each assumption the user corrects:

• Record the correction
• These corrections become additional CONTEXT.md entries

After all assumptions are confirmed/corrected:

• Update .planning/CONTEXT.md with any new locked decisions
• Continue to Step 4

---

Step 4: Phase Research (delegated, conditional)

Skip this step if ANY of these are true:

• --skip-research flag is set
• --gaps flag is set
• Depth profile has features.research_phase: false

To check: run node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/towline-tools.js config resolve-depth and read profile["features.research_phase"]. This replaces checking features.research_phase and depth separately -- the depth profile already incorporates both.

Conditional research (standard/balanced mode): When the profile has features.research_phase: true, also check whether .planning/codebase/ or .planning/research/ already contains relevant context for this phase. If substantial context exists (>3 files in codebase/ or a RESEARCH.md mentioning this phase's technologies), skip research and note: "Skipping research -- existing context found in {directory}." This implements the balanced mode's "conditional research" behavior.

If research is needed:

Display to the user: ◐ Spawning researcher...

Spawn a researcher Task():

Task({
  subagent_type: "dev:towline-researcher",
  prompt: <phase research prompt>
})

NOTE: The dev:towline-researcher subagent type auto-loads the agent definition. Do NOT inline it.

Phase Research Prompt Template

Read skills/plan/templates/researcher-prompt.md.tmpl and use it as the prompt template for spawning the researcher agent. Fill in the placeholders with phase-specific context:

• {NN} - phase number (zero-padded)
• {phase name} - phase name from roadmap
• {goal from roadmap} - phase goal statement
• {REQ-IDs mapped to this phase} - requirement IDs
• {dependencies from roadmap} - dependency list
• Fill <project_context> and <prior_work> blocks per the shared partial (templates/prompt-partials/phase-project-context.md.tmpl): Decision Summary for context, manifest table for prior work

Wait for the researcher to complete before proceeding.

---

Step 4.5: Seed Scanning (inline, before planning)

Before spawning the planner, scan .planning/seeds/ for seeds whose trigger matches the current phase:

1. Glob for .planning/seeds/*.md

2. For each seed file, read its frontmatter and check the trigger field

3. A seed matches if ANY of these are true:

   • trigger equals the phase slug (e.g., trigger: authentication) — preferred
   • trigger is a substring of the phase directory name (e.g., trigger: auth matches 03-authentication)
   • trigger equals the current phase number as integer (e.g., trigger: 3) — backward compatible but NOT recommended for new seeds (breaks with decimal phases like 3.1)
   • trigger equals * (always matches)

4. If matching seeds are found, present them to the user:

   Found {N} seeds related to Phase {NN}:
     - {seed_name}: {seed description}
     - {seed_name}: {seed description}
   

   Use AskUserQuestion (pattern: yes-no-pick from skills/shared/gate-prompts.md): question: "Include these {N} seeds in planning?" header: "Seeds?" options: - label: "Yes, all" description: "Include all {N} matching seeds" - label: "Let me pick" description: "Choose which seeds to include" - label: "No" description: "Proceed without seeds"

5. If "Yes, all": include all matching seed content in the planner's context

6. If "Let me pick": present individual seeds for selection

7. If "No" or "Other": proceed without seeds

8. If no matching seeds found: proceed silently

---

Step 5: Planning (delegated)

Team Mode (--teams)

Reference: references/agent-teams.md for team role definitions and coordination details.

If --teams flag is set OR config.parallelization.use_teams is true:

1. Create the team output directory: .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/team/

2. Display to the user: ◐ Spawning 3 planners in parallel (architect, security, test)...

   Spawn THREE planner agents in parallel using Task():

   Agent 1 -- Architect:

   • subagent_type: "dev:towline-planner"
   • Prompt includes: "You are the ARCHITECT role in a planning team. Focus on: structure, file boundaries, dependency ordering, wave assignment. Write your output to .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/team/architect-PLAN.md. Do NOT write final PLAN.md files -- your output will be synthesized."
   • Include phase goal, research doc paths, CONTEXT.md path in the prompt

   Agent 2 -- Security Reviewer:

   • subagent_type: "dev:towline-planner"
   • Prompt includes: "You are the SECURITY REVIEWER role in a planning team. Focus on: authentication checks, input validation tasks, secrets handling, permission boundaries. Write your output to .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/team/security-PLAN.md. Do NOT write final PLAN.md files."
   • Include same context as Agent 1

   Agent 3 -- Test Designer:

   • subagent_type: "dev:towline-planner"
   • Prompt includes: "You are the TEST DESIGNER role in a planning team. Focus on: test strategy, coverage targets, edge cases, which tasks should use TDD, integration test boundaries. Write your output to .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/team/test-PLAN.md. Do NOT write final PLAN.md files."
   • Include same context as Agent 1

3. Wait for all three to complete

4. Display to the user: ◐ Spawning synthesizer...

   Spawn the synthesizer agent:

   • subagent_type: "dev:towline-synthesizer"
   • Prompt: "Read all files in .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/team/. Synthesize them into unified PLAN.md files in .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/. The architect output provides structure, the security output adds security-related tasks or checks, and the test output informs TDD flags and test tasks. Resolve any contradictions by preferring the architect's structure with security and test additions."

5. Proceed to plan checking as normal

If --teams is NOT set and config.parallelization.use_teams is false or unset, proceed with the existing single-planner flow below.

Single-Planner Flow (default)

Display to the user: ◐ Spawning planner...

Spawn the planner Task() with all context inlined:

Task({
  subagent_type: "dev:towline-planner",
  prompt: <planning prompt>
})

NOTE: The dev:towline-planner subagent type auto-loads the agent definition. Do NOT inline it.

Planning Prompt Template

Read skills/plan/templates/planner-prompt.md.tmpl and use it as the prompt template for spawning the planner agent. Fill in all placeholder blocks with phase-specific context:

• <phase_context> - phase number, directory, goal, requirements, dependencies, success criteria
• <project_context> - locked decisions, user constraints, deferred ideas, phase-specific decisions
• <prior_work> - manifest table of preceding phase SUMMARY.md file paths with status and one-line exports (NOT full bodies)
• <research> - file path to RESEARCH.md if it exists (NOT inlined content)
• <config> - max tasks, parallelization, TDD mode from config.json
• <planning_instructions> - phase-specific planning rules and output path

Wait for the planner to complete.

---

Step 6: Plan Validation (delegated, conditional)

Skip this step if:

• Depth profile has features.plan_checking: false

To check: use the resolved depth profile from Step 1. The profile consolidates the depth setting and any user overrides into a single boolean.

If validation is enabled:

Display to the user: ◐ Spawning plan checker...

Spawn the plan checker Task():

Task({
  subagent_type: "dev:towline-plan-checker",
  prompt: <checker prompt>
})

NOTE: The dev:towline-plan-checker subagent type auto-loads the agent definition. Do NOT inline it.

Checker Prompt Template

Read skills/plan/templates/checker-prompt.md.tmpl and use it as the prompt template for spawning the plan checker agent. Fill in the placeholders:

• <plans_to_check> - manifest table of PLAN.md file paths (checker reads each via Read tool)
• <phase_context> - phase goal and requirement IDs
• <context> - file paths to project-level and phase-level CONTEXT.md files (checker reads via Read tool)

Process checker results:

• If VERIFICATION PASSED: proceed to Step 8
• If issues found: proceed to Step 7

---

Step 7: Revision Loop (max 3 iterations)

Reference: skills/shared/revision-loop.md for the full Check-Revise-Escalate pattern.

Follow the revision loop pattern with:

• Producer: towline-planner (re-spawned with skills/plan/templates/revision-prompt.md.tmpl)
• Checker: towline-plan-checker (back to Step 6)
• Escalation: present issues to user, offer "Proceed anyway" or "Adjust approach" (re-enter Step 5)

---

Step 8: User Approval (inline, conditional)

Skip if:

• gates.confirm_plan is false in config
• mode is autonomous in config

If approval is needed:

Present a summary of all plans to the user:

Phase {N}: {name}
Plans: {count}

Plan {phase}-01: {plan name} (Wave {W}, {task_count} tasks)
  Must-haves: {list truths}
  Files: {list files_modified}
  Tasks:
    1. {task name}
    2. {task name}

Plan {phase}-02: {plan name} (Wave {W}, {task_count} tasks)
  ...

Wave execution order:
  Wave 1: Plan 01, Plan 02 (parallel)
  Wave 2: Plan 03 (depends on 01, 02)

Use AskUserQuestion (pattern: approve-revise-abort from `skills/shared/gate-prompts.md`):
  question: "Approve these {count} plans for Phase {N}?"
  header: "Approve?"
  options:
    - label: "Approve"          description: "Proceed to build phase"
    - label: "Request changes"  description: "Discuss adjustments before proceeding"
    - label: "Abort"            description: "Cancel planning for this phase"

If user selects 'Request changes' or 'Other':

• Discuss what needs to change
• Re-enter Step 5 with updated context/constraints
• Or make small inline edits to plan files directly

If user selects 'Approve':

• CONTEXT.md compliance reporting: If .planning/CONTEXT.md exists, compare all locked decisions against the generated plans. Print: "CONTEXT.md compliance: {M}/{N} locked decisions mapped to tasks" where M = locked decisions that are reflected in at least one task, N = total locked decisions. If any locked decisions are unmapped, list them as warnings.

• Dependency fingerprinting: For each dependency phase (phases that this phase depends on, per ROADMAP.md):

  1. Find all SUMMARY.md files in the dependency phase directory
  2. Compute a simple hash of each SUMMARY.md file (e.g., first 8 chars of a SHA-256 of the file content, or a simpler approach: use the file's byte length + last-modified timestamp as a fingerprint string)
  3. Add a dependency_fingerprints field to each plan's YAML frontmatter:

     dependency_fingerprints:
       "01-01": "len:4856-mod:2025-02-08T09:40"
       "01-02": "len:4375-mod:2025-02-08T09:43"
     

  4. This allows the build skill to detect if dependency phases were re-built after this plan was created

• Update ROADMAP.md Progress table (REQUIRED — do this BEFORE updating STATE.md):

  Tooling shortcut: Use the CLI for atomic updates:

  node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/towline-tools.js roadmap update-plans {phase} 0 {N}
  node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/towline-tools.js roadmap update-status {phase} planned
  node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/towline-tools.js state update status planned
  node ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/towline-tools.js state update last_activity now
  

  1. Open .planning/ROADMAP.md
  2. Find the ## Progress table
  3. Locate the row matching this phase number
  4. Update the Plans Complete column to 0/{N} where N = number of plan files just created
  5. Update the Status column to planned
  6. Save the file — do NOT skip this step

• Update STATE.md: set current phase plan status to "planned"

• If features.auto_advance is true AND mode is autonomous: Chain directly to build: Skill({ skill: "dev:build", args: "{N}" }). This continues the build→review→plan→build cycle automatically.

• Otherwise: Suggest next action: /dev:build {N}

---

Orchestration Flow: Subcommands

Subcommand: add

1. Read .planning/ROADMAP.md
2. Calculate next phase number (last phase + 1)
3. Ask user: "What's the goal for this new phase?"
4. Ask user: "What requirements does it address?" (show available unassigned REQ-IDs)
5. Ask user: "What phases does it depend on?"
6. Append phase to ROADMAP.md
7. Create phase directory: .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/
8. Update STATE.md if needed
9. Suggest: /dev:plan {N} to plan the new phase

Subcommand: insert <N>

Reference: skills/plan/decimal-phase-calc.md for decimal numbering rules.

1. Read .planning/ROADMAP.md
2. Calculate decimal phase number:
   • If inserting at position 3: becomes 3.1
   • If 3.1 already exists: becomes 3.2
   • Etc. (see decimal-phase-calc.md)
3. Ask user for phase goal, requirements, dependencies
4. Insert phase into ROADMAP.md at the correct position
5. Create phase directory: .planning/phases/{NN.M}-{slug}/
6. Update dependencies of subsequent phases if affected
7. Suggest: /dev:plan {N.M} to plan the new phase

Subcommand: remove <N>

1. Read .planning/ROADMAP.md
2. Validate:
   • Phase must exist
   • Phase must be in pending or not started status (cannot remove completed/in-progress phases)
   • No other phases depend on this phase (or user confirms breaking dependencies)
3. Confirm with user: "Remove Phase {N}: {name}? This will delete the phase directory and renumber subsequent phases."
4. If confirmed:
   • Delete .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/ directory
   • Remove phase from ROADMAP.md
   • Renumber subsequent phases (N+1 becomes N, etc.)
   • Update all depends_on references in ROADMAP.md
   • Update STATE.md if needed

---

Orchestration Flow: Gap Closure (--gaps)

When invoked with --gaps:

1. Read .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/VERIFICATION.md
   • If no VERIFICATION.md exists: tell user "No verification report found. Run /dev:review {N} first."
2. Extract all gaps from the verification report
3. Spawn planner Task() in Gap Closure mode:

Read skills/plan/templates/gap-closure-prompt.md.tmpl and use it as the prompt template for the gap closure planner. Fill in the placeholders:

• <verification_report> - inline the FULL VERIFICATION.md content
• <existing_plans> - inline all existing PLAN.md files for the phase
• <gap_closure_instructions> - specify output path and gap_closure frontmatter flag

4. After gap-closure plans are created:
   • Run plan checker (if enabled)
   • Present to user for approval
   • Suggest: /dev:build {N} --gaps-only

---

Error Handling

Phase not found

If the specified phase doesn't exist in ROADMAP.md, display:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ERROR                                                       ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Phase {N} not found in ROADMAP.md.

**To fix:** Run `/dev:status` to see available phases.

Missing prerequisites

If REQUIREMENTS.md or ROADMAP.md don't exist, display:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ERROR                                                       ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Project not initialized. Missing REQUIREMENTS.md or ROADMAP.md.

**To fix:** Run `/dev:begin` first.

Research agent fails

If the researcher Task() fails, display:

⚠ Research agent failed. Planning without phase-specific research.
  This may result in less accurate plans.

Continue to the planning step.

Planner agent fails

If the planner Task() fails, display:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ERROR                                                       ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Planner agent failed for Phase {N}.

**To fix:**
- Try again with `/dev:plan {N} --skip-research`
- Check `.planning/CONTEXT.md` for conflicting constraints

Checker loops forever

After 3 revision iterations without passing, display:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ERROR                                                       ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Plan checker failed to pass after 3 revision iterations for Phase {N}.

**To fix:**
- Review the remaining issues below and decide whether to proceed or revise manually
- Run `/dev:plan {N}` to restart planning from scratch

Present remaining issues and ask user to decide: proceed or intervene.

---

Files Created/Modified by /dev:plan

File	Purpose	When
.planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/RESEARCH.md	Phase-specific research	Step 4
.planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/{phase}-{NN}-PLAN.md	Executable plan files	Step 5
.planning/CONTEXT.md	Updated with assumptions	Step 3 (--assumptions)
.planning/ROADMAP.md	Plans Complete + Status → planned; updated for add/insert/remove	Step 8, Subcommands
.planning/STATE.md	Updated with plan status	Step 8

---

Completion

After planning completes, present:

Use the branded stage banner from references/ui-formatting.md:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
 TOWLINE ► PLANNING PHASE {N} ✓
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

**Phase {N}: {name}** — {plan_count} plans created

Plans:
  {phase}-01: {name} (Wave 1, {task_count} tasks)
  {phase}-02: {name} (Wave 1, {task_count} tasks)
  {phase}-03: {name} (Wave 2, {task_count} tasks)

Wave execution:
  Wave 1: Plans 01, 02 (parallel)
  Wave 2: Plan 03

Then use the "Next Up" routing block:

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

## ▶ Next Up

**Build Phase {N}** — execute these plans

/dev:build {N}

<sub>/clear first → fresh context window</sub>

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

**Also available:**
- /dev:plan {N} --assumptions — review assumptions first
- /dev:discuss {N} — talk through details before building

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────