Agent skill · software engineering · obra
writing-plans
Use when you have a spec or requirements for a multi-step task, before touching code
Why this skill is useful
Provides a structured approach to creating implementation plans that include specific task breakdowns and file responsibilities, which the AI wouldn't reliably generate on its own.
What it needs
About 4k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 268,212 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Writing Plans Overview Write comprehensive implementation plans assuming the engineer has zero context for our codebase and questionable taste. Document everything they need to know: which files to touch for each task, code, testing, docs they might need to check, how to test it. Give them the whole plan as bite-sized tasks. DRY. YAGNI. TDD. Frequent commits. Assume they are a skilled developer, but know almost nothing about our toolset or problem domain. Assume they don't know good test design very well. Announce at start: "I'm using the writing-plans skill to create the implementation plan." Context: If working in an isolated worktree, it should have been created via the superpowers:using-git-worktrees skill at execution time. Save plans to: docs/superpowers/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<feature-name>.md (User preferences for plan location override this default) Scope Check If the spec covers multiple independent subsystems, it should have been broken into sub-project specs during brainstorming. If it wasn't, suggest breaking this into separate plans — one per subsystem. Each plan should produce working, testable software on its own. File Structure Before defining tasks, map out which files will be created or modified and what each one is responsible for. This is where decomposition decisions get locked in. Design units with clear boundaries and well-defined interfaces. Each file should have one clear responsibility. You reason best about code you can hold in context at once, and your edits are more reliable when files are focused. Prefer smaller, focused files over large ones that do too much. Files that change together should live together. Split by responsibility, not by technical layer. In existing codebases, follow established patterns. If the codebase uses large files, don't unilaterally restructure - but if a file you're modifying has grown unwieldy, including a split in the plan is reasonable. This structure informs the task decomposition. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills obra/writing-plans