draft-plan

An implementation plan ensures multi-step engineering work stays aligned by capturing exact file scope, task ordering, and completion criteria. It reduces vague handoffs and missed files by making feature builds and refactors explicit before code changes begin, enabling durable execution by fresh agents.

Yes, implementation plans can handle cross-phase delivery by applying structured task decomposition to multi-step engineering work. The plan captures deterministic metadata, explicit task boundaries, and validation-friendly outputs, ensuring task ordering and file scope stay aligned across complex refactors and feature builds.

Preparing requirements for task decomposition requires an approved design or feature brief that specifies exact file paths and verification needs. The specification must contain deterministic plan metadata and explicit task boundaries so the resulting implementation plan can be executed and tracked over time without prior codebase context.

You need to separate design, planning, and implementation for a codebase refactor when multi-step engineering work requires explicit task boundaries and deterministic plan metadata. Separating these phases ensures task ordering, file scope, and validation stay aligned, producing validation-friendly outputs for downstream agents.