Project Planning Skill for Claude

Converts a specification into a phased, dependency-ordered implementation plan. Use after specification is complete and before execution begins.

1k tokens

context cost

the whole folder, loaded on every use

files

instructions only

copies elsewhere

how many repositories repackaged it

324

stars on the repo

on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository

npx skills add https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market --skill project-planning

The instruction itself

13 sections, as written by the author

Delegation

For detailed task planning workflows, this skill delegates to spec-kit:task-planning as the canonical implementation. Use this skill for quick planning needs; use spec-kit for thorough project plans.

When To Use

After specification phase completes
Need to design system architecture
Need task breakdown for implementation
Planning sprints and resource allocation
Converting requirements into concrete tasks
Defining component interfaces and dependencies

When NOT To Use

No specification exists yet (use Skill(attune:project-specification) first)
Still exploring problem space (use Skill(attune:project-brainstorming) instead)
Ready to execute existing plan (use Skill(attune:project-execution) instead)
Need to adjust running project (update plan incrementally, don't restart)

Integration

With superpowers:

Uses Skill(superpowers:writing-plans) for structured planning
Applies checkpoint-based execution patterns
Uses dependency analysis framework

Without superpowers:

Standalone planning methodology
Task breakdown templates
Dependency tracking patterns

Quality Checks

Before completing plan:

✅ All architecture components documented
✅ File Structure section present before tasks
✅ All task files appear in File Structure table
✅ All FRs mapped to tasks
✅ All tasks have acceptance criteria
✅ Dependencies are acyclic
✅ Effort estimates provided
✅ Critical path identified
✅ Risks assessed with mitigations
✅ Sprints balanced by capacity

Record the Tradeoff (decision journal)

Planning is where architecture and scope decisions get made: the pattern

chosen, the dependency accepted, the work deferred. Record each decision that

had real alternatives to docs/tradeoffs.md (draft and confirm):

If leyline is installed, invoke Skill(leyline:decision-journal) and append

a tradeoff entry (the decision, the options weighed, and what was

sacrificed; set phase to plan). Show the draft; append on confirmation.

Fallback (leyline absent): append to docs/tradeoffs.md using the in-file

ENTRY TEMPLATE; assign the next TR-NNN id.

Post-Completion: Workflow Continuation (REQUIRED)

Automatic Trigger: After Quality Checks pass and docs/implementation-plan.md is saved, MUST auto-invoke the next phase.

When continuation is invoked:

Verify docs/implementation-plan.md exists and is non-empty
Display checkpoint message to user:

   Implementation plan complete. Saved to docs/implementation-plan.md.
   Proceeding to execution phase...

Invoke next phase:

   Skill(attune:project-execution)

Bypass Conditions (ONLY skip continuation if ANY true):

--standalone flag was provided by the user
docs/implementation-plan.md does not exist or is empty (phase failed)
User explicitly requests to stop after planning

Do NOT prompt the user for confirmation: this is a lightweight checkpoint, not an interactive gate. The user can always interrupt if needed.

Exit Criteria

[ ] docs/implementation-plan.md exists, is non-empty, and passes Quality

Checks (acyclic dependencies, FRs mapped, critical path identified).

[ ] Architecture and scope decisions with alternatives are recorded to

docs/tradeoffs.md.

[ ] The execution phase is auto-invoked unless a bypass condition holds.

Skill(superpowers:writing-plans) - Planning methodology (if available)
Skill(spec-kit:task-planning) - Task breakdown (if available)
Skill(attune:project-specification) - Previous phase
Skill(attune:project-execution) - AUTO-INVOKED next phase after planning
Skill(attune:mission-orchestrator) - Full lifecycle orchestration

/attune:blueprint - Invoke this skill
/attune:execute - Next step in workflow

Examples

See /attune:blueprint command documentation for complete examples.

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

If you find circular dependencies in your task graph, break one of the tasks into smaller sub-tasks. If sprint capacity is consistently exceeded, re-estimate tasks using the Fibonacci scale or reduce sprint scope.

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Interview the user relentlessly about a plan or design until reaching shared understanding, resolving each branch of the decision tree. Use when user wants to stress-test a plan, get grilled on their design, or mentions "grill me".