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writing-plans

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Use when you have a spec or requirements for a multi-step task, before touching code

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mermaid-collab-dev

ben-mad-jlp/claude-mermaid-collab

Plugin

mermaid-collab

Repository

ben-mad-jlp/claude-mermaid-collab

skills/writing-plans/SKILL.md

Last Verified

January 25, 2026

Install Skill

Select agents to install to:

Scope:
npx add-skill https://github.com/ben-mad-jlp/claude-mermaid-collab/blob/main/skills/writing-plans/SKILL.md -a claude-code --skill writing-plans

Installation paths:

Claude
.claude/skills/writing-plans/
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Instructions

# 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
- "Implement the minimal code to make the test pass" - step
- "Run the tests and make sure they pass" - step
- "Commit" - step

## Plan Document Header

**Design Artifacts:** 
- Wireframes: [list mermaid-collab diagram IDs or "N/A"]
- Architecture diagrams: [list IDs or "N/A"]
- Design doc: `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md`

**Every plan MUST start with this header:**

```markdown
# [Feature Name] Implementation Plan

> **For Claude:** REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:executing-plans to implement this plan task-by-task.

**Goal:** [One sentence describing what this builds]

**Architecture:** [2-3 sentences about approach]

**Tech Stack:** [Key technologies/libraries]

---
```

## Task Structure

```markdown
### Task N: [Component Name]

**Files:**
- Create: `exact/path/to/file.py`
- Modify: `exact/path/to/existing.py:123-145`
- Test: `tests/exact/path/to/test.py`

**Changes (pseudo code):**
- `file.py`: Create class Foo with method bar() that takes input X and returns Y
- `existing.py:123-145`: Add validation check before process() call, raise ValueError i

Validation Details

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Instruction Length:
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