Research-Plan-Implement (RPI) Workflow

A structured three-phase workflow that separates research, planning, and implementation into distinct phases with explicit GO/NO-GO gates between them. Each phase produces durable artifacts that serve as the contract for the next phase, reducing rework and ensuring alignment before code is written.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill for:

• New features that touch multiple modules or services
• Changes with unclear scope that need research before committing to an approach
• High-risk modifications where a wrong approach would be costly to reverse
• Cross-team features that benefit from documenting the plan before implementation
• Any task where you want written artifacts to track what was decided and why
• Onboarding scenarios where the developer is unfamiliar with the codebase area

Trigger phrases: "research first", "RPI workflow", "research-plan-implement", "investigate before coding", "create a plan document", "multi-phase workflow", "need research artifacts", "document the approach"

What This Skill Does