speckit-plan

Automating implementation planning involves running a structured workflow that loads context from feature specifications and templates to generate design artifacts like research.md, data-model.md, and contracts automatically.

Design artifacts in a structured planning workflow are generated outputs such as research.md, data-model.md, contracts, and quickstart guides that document the implementation plan and data architecture.

Yes, a .specify directory is required. The planning workflow integrates with the spec-kit project structure to load context, gates, and prerequisites, and to update agent context automatically.

Yes, the planning workflow supports extension hooks before and after planning, with conditional execution and clear reporting of mandatory versus optional hooks to customize artifact generation.

The best way to manage multi-phase planning is using a central plan template that enforces gating rules with error handling, ensuring data models and contracts are generated in the correct sequence.

Automated planning fails to load context when the required FEATURE_SPEC, constitution, or IMPL_PLAN templates are missing or misconfigured in the project directory, triggering enforced gating rules and error handling.