
Project Planning
- 224 installs
- 325 repo stars
- Updated August 2, 2026
- athola/claude-night-market
Project-planning is an agent skill that converts a completed specification into a phased, dependency-ordered implementation plan before execution begins.
About
Project-planning is an intermediate workflow skill for solo and indie builders who already have a specification and need a concrete path to implementation. It transforms requirements into a phased plan with explicit dependencies, component interfaces, and task granularity suitable for agent-led execution or human sprints. The skill intentionally sits between specification and execution: it warns against restarting planning on a running project and routes exploratory work to brainstorming or greenfield specs to project-specification. For lightweight needs it runs in-repo; for thorough program plans it defers to spec-kit:task-planning as the canonical implementation while still aligning with structured planning patterns from superpowers:writing-plans. Best used when architecture choices, dependency order, and resource allocation must be decided before any build subphase work begins.
- Converts a finished specification into phased, dependency-ordered tasks
- Delegates deep planning to spec-kit:task-planning; stays lightweight for quick breakdowns
- Integrates with superpowers:writing-plans and checkpoint-based execution patterns
- Covers architecture design, interface definitions, and estimation-oriented sprint planning
- Explicit gates: requires spec first; points to project-execution when the plan is ready
Project Planning by the numbers
- 224 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- Ranked #1,004 of 3,282 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Security screen: LOW risk (skills.sh audit)
- Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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| Installs | 224 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 325 |
| Security audit | 3 / 3 scanners passed |
| Last updated | August 2, 2026 |
| Repository | athola/claude-night-market ↗ |
What it does
Turn an approved product spec into a phased, dependency-ordered implementation plan before your agent starts coding.
Who is it for?
Best when you're finishing the spec phase and need structured task breakdown and architecture before the first implementation commit.
Skip if: Teams still exploring the problem (use brainstorming), without any specification (use project-specification), or already holding an approved plan ready to run (use project-execution).
When should I use this skill?
After specification phase completes and before execution begins; when you need architecture, task breakdown, or sprint planning.
What you get
You get a phased implementation plan with interfaces and dependencies defined so you can invoke project-execution or spec-kit:task-planning without replanning from scratch.
- Phased implementation plan
- Dependency-ordered task list
- Component interface definitions
By the numbers
- Delegates thorough plans to spec-kit:task-planning
- Estimated metadata: ~900 tokens, intermediate complexity
Files
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.mdusing 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: 1. Verify docs/implementation-plan.md exists and is non-empty 2. Display checkpoint message to user:
Implementation plan complete. Saved to docs/implementation-plan.md.
Proceeding to execution phase...3. Invoke next phase:
Skill(attune:project-execution)Bypass Conditions (ONLY skip continuation if ANY true):
--standaloneflag was provided by the userdocs/implementation-plan.mddoes 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.mdexists, 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.
Related Skills
Skill(superpowers:writing-plans)- Planning methodology (if available)Skill(spec-kit:task-planning)- Task breakdown (if available)Skill(attune:project-specification)- Previous phaseSkill(attune:project-execution)- AUTO-INVOKED next phase after planningSkill(attune:mission-orchestrator)- Full lifecycle orchestration
Related Commands
/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.
Related skills
How it compares
Use instead of jumping straight from a spec doc into ad-hoc coding tasks in chat.
FAQ
Who is project-planning for?
Developers using Claude Code or similar agents who have a written specification and want a dependency-aware plan before implementation.
When should I use project-planning?
After specification is complete and before execution—e.g. in Validate when locking scope into tasks, in Build/pm when designing architecture and sprint breakdown, or in Ship/launch prep when sequencing release-critical work.
Is project-planning safe to install?
Review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page for install risk and file integrity; the skill is planning-only and does not imply shell or network access by itself.