skill-planner

Planner Skill

Thin wrapper that delegates plan creation to planner-agent subagent.

IMPORTANT: This skill implements the skill-internal postflight pattern. After the subagent returns, this skill handles all postflight operations (status update, artifact linking, git commit) before returning. This eliminates the "continue" prompt issue between skill return and orchestrator.

Context References

Reference (do not load eagerly):

• Path: .claude/context/formats/return-metadata-file.md - Metadata file schema
• Path: .claude/context/patterns/postflight-control.md - Marker file protocol
• Path: .claude/context/patterns/file-metadata-exchange.md - File I/O helpers
• Path: .claude/context/patterns/jq-escaping-workarounds.md - jq escaping patterns (Issue #1132)

Note: This skill is a thin wrapper with internal postflight. Context is loaded by the delegated agent.

Trigger Conditions

This skill activates when:

• Task status allows planning (not_started, researched)
• /plan command is invoked
• Implementation approach needs to be formalized

---

Execution Flow

Stage 1: Input Validation

Validate required inputs:

• task_number - Must be provided and exist in state.json
• Task status must allow planning

# Lookup task
task_data=$(jq -r --argjson num "$task_number" \
  '.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == $num)' \
  specs/state.json)

# Validate exists
if [ -z "$task_data" ]; then
  return error "Task $task_number not found"
fi

# Extract fields
language=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.language // "general"')
status=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.status')
project_name=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.project_name')
description=$(echo "$task_data" | jq -r '.description // ""')

# Validate status
if [ "$status" = "completed" ]; then
  return error "Task already completed"
fi

---

Stage 2: Preflight Status Update

Update task status to "planning" BEFORE invoking subagent.

Update state.json:

jq --arg ts "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
   --arg status "planning" \
   --arg sid "$session_id" \
  '(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')) |= . + {
    status: $status,
    last_updated: $ts,
    session_id: $sid
  }' specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json

Update TODO.md: Use Edit tool to change status marker from [RESEARCHED] or [NOT STARTED] to [PLANNING].

---

Stage 3: Create Postflight Marker

Create the marker file to prevent premature termination:

# Ensure task directory exists
padded_num=$(printf "%03d" "$task_number")
mkdir -p "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}"

cat > "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.postflight-pending" << EOF
{
  "session_id": "${session_id}",
  "skill": "skill-planner",
  "task_number": ${task_number},
  "operation": "plan",
  "reason": "Postflight pending: status update, artifact linking, git commit",
  "created": "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)",
  "stop_hook_active": false
}
EOF

---

Stage 3a: Calculate Artifact Number

Read next_artifact_number from state.json and use (current-1) since plan stays in the same round as research:

# Read next_artifact_number from state.json
next_num=$(jq -r --argjson num "$task_number" \
  '.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == $num) | .next_artifact_number // 1' \
  specs/state.json)

# Plan uses (current - 1) to stay in the same round as research
# If next_artifact_number is 1 (no research yet), use 1
if [ "$next_num" -le 1 ]; then
  artifact_number=1
else
  artifact_number=$((next_num - 1))
fi

# Fallback for legacy tasks: count existing plan artifacts
if [ "$next_num" = "null" ] || [ -z "$next_num" ]; then
  padded_num=$(printf "%03d" "$task_number")
  count=$(ls "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/plans/"*[0-9][0-9]*.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
  artifact_number=$((count + 1))
fi

artifact_padded=$(printf "%02d" "$artifact_number")

Note: Plan does NOT increment next_artifact_number. Only research advances the sequence.

---

Stage 4: Prepare Delegation Context

Prepare delegation context for the subagent:

{
  "session_id": "sess_{timestamp}_{random}",
  "delegation_depth": 1,
  "delegation_path": ["orchestrator", "plan", "skill-planner"],
  "timeout": 1800,
  "task_context": {
    "task_number": N,
    "task_name": "{project_name}",
    "description": "{description}",
    "language": "{language}"
  },
  "artifact_number": "{artifact_number from Stage 3a}",
  "research_path": "{path to research report if exists}",
  "metadata_file_path": "specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/.return-meta.json"
}

Note: The artifact_number field tells the agent which sequence number to use for artifact naming (e.g., 01, 02). Plan uses the same round number as the research that preceded it.

---

Stage 5: Invoke Subagent

CRITICAL: You MUST use the Task tool to spawn the subagent.

Required Tool Invocation:

Tool: Task (NOT Skill)
Parameters:
  - subagent_type: "planner-agent"
  - prompt: [Include task_context, delegation_context, research_path, metadata_file_path]
  - description: "Execute planning for task {N}"

DO NOT use Skill(planner-agent) - this will FAIL.

The subagent will:

• Load planning context files
• Analyze task requirements and research
• Decompose into logical phases
• Identify risks and mitigations
• Create plan in specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/plans/
• Write metadata to specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/.return-meta.json
• Return a brief text summary (NOT JSON)

---

Stage 6: Parse Subagent Return (Read Metadata File)

After subagent returns, read the metadata file:

metadata_file="specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.return-meta.json"

if [ -f "$metadata_file" ] && jq empty "$metadata_file" 2>/dev/null; then
    status=$(jq -r '.status' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_path=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].path // ""' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_type=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].type // ""' "$metadata_file")
    artifact_summary=$(jq -r '.artifacts[0].summary // ""' "$metadata_file")
else
    echo "Error: Invalid or missing metadata file"
    status="failed"
fi

---

Stage 7: Update Task Status (Postflight)

If status is "planned", update state.json and TODO.md:

Update state.json:

jq --arg ts "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
   --arg status "planned" \
  '(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')) |= . + {
    status: $status,
    last_updated: $ts,
    planned: $ts
  }' specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json

Update TODO.md: Use Edit tool to change status marker from [PLANNING] to [PLANNED].

On partial/failed: Keep status as "planning" for resume.

---

Stage 8: Link Artifacts

Add artifact to state.json with summary.

IMPORTANT: Use two-step jq pattern to avoid Issue #1132 escaping bug. See jq-escaping-workarounds.md.

if [ -n "$artifact_path" ]; then
    # Step 1: Filter out existing plan artifacts (use "| not" pattern to avoid != escaping - Issue #1132)
    jq '(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')).artifacts =
        [(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')).artifacts // [] | .[] | select(.type == "plan" | not)]' \
      specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json

    # Step 2: Add new plan artifact
    jq --arg path "$artifact_path" \
       --arg type "$artifact_type" \
       --arg summary "$artifact_summary" \
      '(.active_projects[] | select(.project_number == '$task_number')).artifacts += [{"path": $path, "type": $type, "summary": $summary}]' \
      specs/state.json > specs/tmp/state.json && mv specs/tmp/state.json specs/state.json
fi

Update TODO.md: Add plan artifact link using count-aware format.

See .claude/rules/state-management.md "Artifact Linking Format" for canonical rules. Use Edit tool:

1. Read existing task entry to detect current plan links
2. If no - **Plan**: line exists: Insert inline format:

   - **Plan**: [MM_{short-slug}.md]({artifact_path})
   

3. If existing inline (single link): Convert to multi-line:

   old_string: - **Plan**: [existing.md](existing/path)
   new_string: - **Plan**:
     - [existing.md](existing/path)
     - [MM_{short-slug}.md]({artifact_path})
   

4. If existing multi-line: Append new item before next field:

   old_string:   - [last-item.md](last/path)
   **Description**:
   new_string:   - [last-item.md](last/path)
     - [MM_{short-slug}.md]({artifact_path})
   **Description**:
   

---

Stage 9: Git Commit

Commit changes with session ID:

git add -A
git commit -m "task ${task_number}: create implementation plan

Session: ${session_id}

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>"

---

Stage 10: Cleanup

Remove marker and metadata files:

rm -f "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.postflight-pending"
rm -f "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.postflight-loop-guard"
rm -f "specs/${padded_num}_${project_name}/.return-meta.json"

---

Stage 11: Return Brief Summary

Return a brief text summary (NOT JSON). Example:

Plan created for task {N}:
- {phase_count} phases defined, {estimated_hours} hours estimated
- Key phases: {phase names}
- Created plan at specs/{NNN}_{SLUG}/plans/MM_{short-slug}.md
- Status updated to [PLANNED]
- Changes committed

---

Error Handling

Input Validation Errors

Return immediately with error message if task not found or status invalid.

Metadata File Missing

If subagent didn't write metadata file:

1. Keep status as "planning"
2. Do not cleanup postflight marker
3. Report error to user

Git Commit Failure

Non-blocking: Log failure but continue with success response.

jq Parse Failure

If jq commands fail with INVALID_CHARACTER or syntax error (Issue #1132):

1. Log to errors.json:

jq --

---

*Content truncated.*