plugin-planning Skill

Purpose: Handle Stage 0 (Research & Planning – consolidated) through subagent delegation. This skill creates the foundation contracts (architecture.md, plan.md) that guide implementation in a single consolidated pass.

Invoked by: /plan command or as first step of /implement workflow

Entry Point

Check preconditions first: See references/preconditions.md for detailed validation logic.

Quick validation:

1. creative-brief.md must exist at plugins/[Name]/.ideas/
2. Parameter specification required (parameter-spec.md OR parameter-spec-draft.md)
3. Plugin status must be ≤ Stage 0 (not already in implementation)
4. Detect existing contracts (architecture.md, plan.md) for resume logic

If all preconditions pass → proceed to Stage 0

Stage 0: Research & Planning

Goal: Create DSP architecture specification (architecture.md) AND implementation plan (plan.md) Duration: 5-35 minutes (complexity-dependent) Implementation: Delegated to research-planning-agent subagent via Task tool

Dispatch pattern:

1. Read contracts in parallel (use parallel Read calls in single tool invocation):

   • plugins/[Name]/.ideas/creative-brief.md
   • plugins/[Name]/.ideas/parameter-spec.md OR parameter-spec-draft.md
   • plugins/[Name]/.ideas/mockups/*.yaml (if exists)

2. Invoke subagent:

   Task(subagent_type="research-planning-agent", description="[prompt with contracts]", model="sonnet")
   

   See references/subagent-invocation.md for detailed prompt construction.

3. After subagent returns, execute checkpoint protocol:

   • Read subagent’s return message
   • Verify architecture.md and plan.md created
   • Present decision menu (use assets/decision-menu-stage-0.md template)
   • WAIT for user response

Subagent executes: Full Stage 0 protocol from research-planning-agent.md

Outputs:

• plugins/[Name]/.ideas/architecture.md (see assets/architecture-template.md)
• plugins/[Name]/.ideas/plan.md (see assets/plan-template.md)

Decision menu: Use assets/decision-menu-stage-0.md template

Menu option routing:

• Option 1 (Start implementation): Invoke plugin-workflow skill
• Option 2 (Review contracts): Read and display architecture.md, plan.md, parameter-spec.md, creative-brief.md
• Option 3 (Improve brief): Invoke plugin-ideation skill
• Option 4 (Deep research): Invoke deep-research skill
• Option 5 (Pause): Verify state saved, exit skill
• Option 6 (Other): Route based on request (plugin-workflow, ui-mockup, deep-research, or handle directly)

Note: research-planning-agent runs in fresh context (5-35 min session doesn’t pollute orchestrator)

Validation before proceeding to Stage 1:

1. Verify architecture.md exists with all required sections (Core Components, Processing Chain, Parameter Mapping)
2. Verify plan.md exists with complexity score and implementation strategy
3. If verification fails: Display error and return to Stage 0
4. When user chooses option 1: Delegate to plugin-workflow skill (plugin-workflow owns Stages 1-4)

Reference Files

• references/preconditions.md – Detailed precondition validation logic
• references/subagent-invocation.md – Subagent dispatch pattern and prompt construction
• references/state-updates.md – State file update protocol
• references/git-operations.md – Commit patterns

Templates:

• assets/architecture-template.md – DSP architecture contract template
• assets/plan-template.md – Implementation plan template
• assets/decision-menu-stage-0.md – Decision menu template