writing-plans

Originally fromobra/superpowers
Installation
Summary

Detailed implementation planning for multi-step engineering tasks with bite-sized, test-driven steps.

  • Generates comprehensive plans assuming zero codebase context, breaking work into 2–5 minute tasks following TDD principles (failing test, minimal implementation, passing test, commit)
  • Produces structured markdown documents with exact file paths, complete code snippets, and specific shell commands with expected outputs
  • Designed for handoff to either subagent-driven execution (fresh agent per task with code review) or parallel session execution via the executing-plans skill
  • Emphasizes DRY, YAGNI, and frequent commits; assumes skilled developers with limited domain knowledge and basic test design experience
SKILL.md

Writing Plans

Overview

Write comprehensive implementation plans assuming the engineer has zero context for our codebase and questionable taste. Document everything they need to know: which files to touch for each task, code, testing, docs they might need to check, how to test it. Give them the whole plan as bite-sized tasks. DRY. YAGNI. TDD. Frequent commits.

Assume they are a skilled developer, but know almost nothing about our toolset or problem domain. Assume they don't know good test design very well.

Announce at start: "I'm using the writing-plans skill to create the implementation plan."

Context: This should be run in a dedicated worktree (created by brainstorming skill).

Save plans to: docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<feature-name>.md

Bite-Sized Task Granularity

Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):

  • "Write the failing test" - step
  • "Run it to make sure it fails" - step
Related skills
Installs
544
GitHub Stars
37.3K
First Seen
Jan 19, 2026