Plan Plus — Brainstorming-Enhanced PDCA Planning

Produces higher-quality Plan documents by exploring user intent, comparing alternatives, and validating incrementally.

HARD-GATE

Do NOT write implementation code until the Plan is approved by the user.

All output in this skill is documentation and planning artifacts only. No source code files may be created or modified until the user explicitly approves the final Plan document.

Key Principles

1. Think before coding — Planning prevents wasted effort.
2. User intent over assumptions — Ask, do not guess.
3. Minimal viable plan — Cover what matters, skip what does not.
4. Iterative refinement — Build the plan in stages with user feedback.
5. Evidence-based decisions — Use research and data, not opinion.
6. YAGNI discipline — If the user does not need it now, exclude it.

7-Phase Workflow

Phase 0: Project Context Exploration (auto)

Automatically gather project context before interacting with the user.

1. Read existing documentation in docs/01-plan/, docs/02-design/.
2. Scan code structure: project root files, src/, lib/, package.json, config files.
3. Check .pdca-status.json for current PDCA state.
4. Identify existing features, tech stack, and conventions.

Output: Internal context summary (not shown to user unless requested).

Phase 1: Intent Discovery

Ask the user 4 structured questions with numbered options:

1. What — What is the feature or change?
   • Provide 3-4 interpretations based on context, let user pick or clarify.
2. Why — What problem does this solve?
   • Suggest 2-3 possible motivations.
3. Who — Who are the target users or stakeholders?
   • List likely user personas from project context.
4. How — What approach or constraints exist?
   • Propose 2-3 technical directions.

Format: Present each question with numbered options. Wait for user response before proceeding.

Phase 2: Alternative Exploration

Based on Phase 1 answers, present 2-3 alternative approaches in a comparison table:

Criteria	Approach A	Approach B	Approach C
Complexity
Time estimate
Risk level
Scalability
Recommendation

Ask user to select or combine approaches.

Phase 3: YAGNI Review

For each requirement identified so far, classify:

Requirement	Classification	Rationale
...	Must-have	Core to the feature
...	Nice-to-have	Useful but not blocking
...	YAGNI	Not needed now, defer

Remove YAGNI items from the plan scope. Move Nice-to-have items to a "Future Considerations" section.

Phase 4: Incremental Design Validation

Present the plan section by section for approval:

1. Show Objective & Scope — wait for approval.
2. Show Requirements — wait for approval.
3. Show Technical Approach — wait for approval.
4. Show Success Criteria — wait for approval.
5. Show Risk Assessment — wait for approval.

If the user requests changes to any section, revise and re-present that section.

Phase 5: Plan Document Generation

After all sections are approved:

1. Generate the full Plan document using templates/plan.template.md.
2. Save to docs/01-plan/features/{feature}.plan.md.
3. Update .pdca-status.json with plan completion.
4. Create tracker task: [Plan-Plus] {feature}.

Phase 6: Next Steps

Guide the user to the next PDCA phase:

• Recommend /pdca design {feature} to proceed to Design phase.
• Summarize key decisions made during planning.
• List any deferred items (Nice-to-have / YAGNI) for future reference.

Arguments

Argument	Description	Example
[feature]	Feature name to plan	/plan-plus user-auth

References

• ${extensionPath}/templates/plan.template.md
• ${extensionPath}/skills/pdca/SKILL.md