Writing Plans (OpenSpec Integration)

Overview

Write comprehensive implementation plans assuming the engineer has zero context. Document everything they need: which files to touch, code, testing, verification. Bite-sized TDD tasks. DRY. YAGNI. Frequent commits.

This version reads from and writes to OpenSpec change directories.

Announce at start: "I'm using openspec-writing-plans to create the implementation plan."

Context Loading

Read design and specs from OpenSpec:

Check which change we're working on

openspec list --json

Read the artifacts

cat openspec/changes/<name>/proposal.md cat openspec/changes/<name>/design.md ls openspec/changes/<name>/specs/

Plan Document Header

Every plan MUST start with this header:

[Feature Name] Implementation Plan

For Claude: REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:executing-plans or superpowers:subagent-driven-development to implement this plan task-by-task.

Goal: [One sentence describing what this builds]

Architecture: [2-3 sentences about approach]

Tech Stack: [Key technologies/libraries]

Bite-Sized Task Granularity

Each step is one action (2-5 minutes):

• "Write the failing test" - step

• "Run it to make sure it fails" - step

• "Implement the minimal code to make the test pass" - step

• "Run the tests and make sure they pass" - step

• "Commit" - step

Task Structure

Task N: [Component Name]

Files:

• Create: exact/path/to/file.py
• Modify: exact/path/to/existing.py:123-145
• Test: tests/exact/path/to/test.py

Step 1: Write the failing test [exact test code]

Step 2: Run test to verify it fails Run: exact command Expected: FAIL with "specific error"

Step 3: Write minimal implementation [exact implementation code]

Step 4: Run test to verify it passes Run: exact command Expected: PASS

Step 5: Commit

git add <files>
git commit -m "feat: specific description"

Save Location

Save plan to OpenSpec (instead of docs/plans/):

openspec/changes/<name>/plan.md

Verify:

openspec status --change <name> --json

Execution Handoff

After saving the plan, offer execution choice:

"Plan complete and saved to openspec/changes/<name>/plan.md
. Two execution options:

1. Subagent-Driven (this session) - Fresh subagent per task, review between tasks, fast iteration

- REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:subagent-driven-development

2. Parallel Session (separate) - Open new session with executing-plans, batch execution

- REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: New session uses openspec-executing-plans

Which approach?"

Remember

- Exact file paths always

- Complete code in plan (not "add validation")

- Exact commands with expected output

- DRY, YAGNI, TDD, frequent commits

- Plan reads from OpenSpec specs to ensure requirement coverage