/planning-patterns

name: planning-patterns
description: Structured planning methodology with research, brainstorming, phased plan creation, risk assessment, and plan-to-build continuity.
allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob, WebSearch, WebFetch
graph:
  domains: [domain:software-engineering]
  skillAreas: [skill-area:agentic-loops, skill-area:orchestration-loop]
  workflows: [workflow:feature-development]
  topics: [topic:developer-experience]
  roles: [role:tech-lead, role:backend-engineer]

• Search for existing solutions and patterns
• Identify relevant libraries and tools
• Find best practices in the domain
• Check for known pitfalls

2. Brainstorming Phase

• Generate at least 3 alternative approaches
• Evaluate trade-offs: complexity, time, risk, scalability
• Consider build-vs-buy decisions
• Rank by feasibility and alignment

3. Plan Creation

• Structure with phases, tasks, and milestones
• Define acceptance criteria per phase
• Map dependencies between tasks
• Include risk assessment with mitigations
• Define TDD strategy per coding phase
• Estimate effort and timeline

4. Review Gate

• Verify completeness against original request
• Validate logical phase ordering
• Check actionability of risk mitigations
• Score plan completeness (>=80 to pass)

Plan-to-Build Continuity

• Save plans to `docs/plans/` directory
• Reference plan file in session memory
• BUILD workflow reads plan during requirements clarification
• Component-builder follows documented phases

When to Use

• PLAN workflow (primary)
• Any task requiring strategic thinking before execution

Agents Used

• `planner` (primary consumer)
• `github-researcher` (research phase)