planner

To create an implementation plan without writing code, use a structured planning phase that explores the codebase, clarifies scope iteratively, and documents design decisions in Markdown. This prevents scope creep and architectural debt before development begins.

Scoping a system design and refactoring task involves a multi-phase workflow of codebase exploration and iterative clarification. This structured discovery process defines constraints and trade-offs, producing a detailed roadmap with risks, alternatives, and acceptance criteria.

Yes, this planning workflow generates documentation for architectural changes directly in the project. It creates comprehensive implementation plans in Markdown format within a dedicated .plan/ directory to ensure design decisions are structured and accessible.

Yes, you can use this approach to outline a new user authentication module. The skill explores the existing project structure, outlines the system design, and produces a detailed roadmap including risks, alternatives, and acceptance criteria for the new module.

You need a dedicated planning phase for software architecture and feature development when facing complex refactoring or new feature scoping. It forces a thoughtful design process before coding, preventing disorganized development and architectural debt.

A key limitation of this systematic planning skill is that it generates documentation and design roadmaps without modifying the codebase. It focuses entirely on scoping and architectural design, so it does not execute the actual refactoring or code changes.