plan

<skill name="apex:plan" phase="plan">

<overview>
Transform research findings into battle-tested implementation plans through interactive design.

Produces 5 mandatory artifacts: Design Rationale and Evidence, Tree of Thought, Chain of Draft, YAGNI Declaration, Pattern Selection.
</overview>

<phase-model>
phase_model:
  frontmatter: [research, plan, implement, rework, complete]
  rework: enabled
  db_role: [RESEARCH, ARCHITECT, BUILDER, BUILDER_VALIDATOR, REVIEWER, DOCUMENTER]
  legacy_db_role: [VALIDATOR]
source_of_truth:
  gating: frontmatter.phase
  telemetry: db_role
</phase-model>

<phase-gate requires="research" sets="plan">
  <reads-file>./.apex/tasks/[ID].md</reads-file>
  <requires-section>research</requires-section>
  <appends-section>plan</appends-section>
</phase-gate>

<principles>
- **Be Skeptical**: Question vague requirements, identify issues early, verify with code
- **Be Interactive**: Get buy-in at each step, don't create full plan in one shot
- **Be Thorough**: Read ALL files FULLY, research patterns with parallel agents
- **Be Evidence-Based**: Every decision backed by code, patterns, or research
- **No Open Questions**: STOP and clarify before proceeding with unknowns
</principles>

<initial-response>
<if-no-arguments>
I'll create a rigorous technical architecture. Please provide the task identifier.

You can find active tasks in `./.apex/tasks/` or run with:
`/apex:plan [identifier]`
</if-no-arguments>
<if-arguments>Load task file and begin architecture process.</if-arguments>
</initial-response>

<workflow>

<step id="1" title="Load task and verify phase">
<instructions>
1. Read `./.apex/tasks/[identifier].md`
2. Verify frontmatter `phase: research`
3. Parse `<task-contract>` from the research output FIRST and treat it as authoritative scope/ACs
4. If `<task-contract>` is missing, STOP and ask to rerun research or add the contract with an explicit amendment rationale
5. Parse `<research>` section for context
6. If phase != research, refuse w