writing-plans

To create an implementation plan from a software specification, you provide the written spec to generate a detailed task-level plan. This plan documents which files to touch, what code to write, how to test it, and what documentation requires updates.

Breaking down complex engineering tasks into code changes is best handled by generating bite-sized, task-level plans. This approach aligns code modifications, tests, and documentation while enforcing DRY, YAGNI, and TDD principles for incremental progress.

You track implementation plans in a repository by saving generated plans to a versioned location like docs/plans. The plan files are stored with a specific date and feature name format, such as YYYY-MM-DD-feature-name.md, for easy traceability.

Generating an implementation plan does not require specific testing frameworks. The plan details how to test your code changes using your existing stack, enforcing TDD principles to ensure maintainable, incremental progress and easier reviews.

Yes, you can use this for product development tasks needing both code and documentation updates. It applies to engineering scenarios where every code change, test, and doc update requires explicit guidance to convert requirements into an executable plan.

You should generate a task-level plan instead of directly coding from a spec because planning complex software work manually is error-prone. A generated plan provides explicit guidance on files, code, tests, and docs to ensure maintainable progress.