Table of Contents

• When to Use
• Integration
• Planning Phases
• Phase 1: Architecture Design
• Phase 2: Task Breakdown
• Phase 3: Dependency Analysis
• Phase 4: Sprint Planning
• Architecture Design Patterns
• Component Identification
• Component Template
• Component: [Name]
• Task Breakdown Template
• TASK-[XXX]: [Task Name]
• Task Estimation Guidelines
• Dependency Graph
• Sprint Structure
• Sprint [N]: [Focus Area]
• Planned Tasks ([X] story points)
• Deliverable
• Risks
• Dependencies
• Risk Assessment
• Output Format
• Architecture
• System Overview
• Component Diagram
• Components
• Data Flow
• Task Breakdown
• Phase 1: [Name] (Sprint [N]) - TASK-001 through TASK-010
• Phase 2: [Name] (Sprint [M]) - TASK-011 through TASK-020
• Dependency Graph
• Sprint Schedule
• Risk Assessment
• Success Metrics
• Timeline
• Next Steps
• Quality Checks
• Related Skills
• Related Commands
• Examples

Project Planning Skill

Transform specification into implementation plan with architecture design and dependency-ordered tasks.

When to Use

• After specification phase completes
• Need to design system architecture
• Need task breakdown for implementation
• Planning sprints and resource allocation

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

Planning Phases

Phase 1: Architecture Design

Activities: 1. Identify system components 2. Define component responsibilities 3. Design interfaces between components 4. Map data flows 5. Select technologies

Output: Architecture documentation with diagrams

Phase 2: Task Breakdown

Activities: 1. Decompose FRs into implementation tasks 2. Add testing tasks for each FR 3. Add infrastructure tasks 4. Add documentation tasks 5. Estimate each task

Output: Task list with estimates

Phase 3: Dependency Analysis

Activities: 1. Identify task dependencies 2. Create dependency graph 3. Identify critical path 4. Detect circular dependencies 5. Optimize for parallelization

Output: Dependency-ordered task execution plan

Phase 4: Sprint Planning

Activities: 1. Group tasks into sprints 2. Balance sprint workload 3. Identify milestones 4. Plan releases 5. Allocate resources

Output: Sprint schedule with milestones

Architecture Design Patterns

Component Identification

Questions: - What are the major functional areas? - What concerns should be separated? - What components can be developed independently? - What components can be reused?

Common Patterns: - Frontend/Backend: Separate UI from business logic - API Layer: Separate interface from implementation - Data Layer: Separate data access from business logic - Integration Layer: Isolate external dependencies

Component Template

### Component: [Name]

**Responsibility**: [What this component does]

**Technology**: [Stack and tools]

**Interfaces**:
- [Interface 1]: [Description]
- [Interface 2]: [Description]

**Dependencies**:
- [Component 1]: [What's needed]
- [Component 2]: [What's needed]

**Data**:
- [Data structure 1]
- [Data structure 2]

**Configuration**:
- [Config param 1]
- [Config param 2]

Task Breakdown Template

### TASK-[XXX]: [Task Name]

**Description**: [What needs to be done]

**Type**: Implementation | Testing | Documentation | Infrastructure | Deployment
**Priority**: P0 (Critical) | P1 (High) | P2 (Medium) | P3 (Low)
**Estimate**: [Story points or hours]
**Dependencies**: TASK-XXX, TASK-YYY
**Sprint**: Sprint N
**Assignee**: [Name or TBD]

**Linked Requirements**: FR-XXX, NFR-YYY

**Acceptance Criteria**:
- [ ] [Criterion 1]
- [ ] [Criterion 2]
- [ ] Tests passing
- [ ] Documentation updated

**Technical Notes**:
- [Implementation detail 1]
- [Implementation detail 2]

**Testing Requirements**:
- Unit tests: [What to test]
- Integration tests: [What to test]
- E2E tests: [What to test]

**Definition of Done**:
- [ ] Code complete
- [ ] Tests passing
- [ ] Code reviewed
- [ ] Documentation updated
- [ ] Deployed to staging

Task Estimation Guidelines

Story Points (Fibonacci): - 1 point: < 2 hours, trivial, well-understood - 2 points: 2-4 hours, straightforward - 3 points: 4-8 hours, some complexity - 5 points: 1-2 days, moderate complexity - 8 points: 2-3 days, significant complexity - 13 points: 3-5 days, high complexity (consider breaking down) - 21 points: > 5 days, very complex (MUST break down)

Factors to consider: - Technical complexity - Uncertainty/unknowns - Dependencies on other work - Testing requirements - Documentation needs

Dependency Graph

Notation:

TASK-001 (Foundation)
    ├─▶ TASK-002 (Database schema)
    │       ├─▶ TASK-003 (Models)
    │       └─▶ TASK-011 (Data import)
    └─▶ TASK-004 (Authentication)
            └─▶ TASK-005 (Auth middleware)
                    └─▶ TASK-010 (Protected endpoints)

Validation: - No circular dependencies (A depends on B, B depends on A) - Critical path identified - Parallel work opportunities identified - Blocking tasks highlighted

Sprint Structure

Sprint Template:

## Sprint [N]: [Focus Area]

**Dates**: [Start] - [End]
**Goal**: [Sprint objective]
**Capacity**: [Team capacity in story points]

### Planned Tasks ([X] story points)
- TASK-XXX ([N] points)
- TASK-YYY ([M] points)
- ...

### Deliverable
[What will be demonstrable at sprint end]

### Risks
- [Risk 1 with mitigation]
- [Risk 2 with mitigation]

### Dependencies
- [External dependency 1]
- [External dependency 2]

Risk Assessment

Risk Template:

| Risk | Impact | Probability | Mitigation |
|------|--------|-------------|------------|
| [Risk description] | High/Med/Low | High/Med/Low | [How to address] |

Common Risks: - Technology unknowns - Third-party API dependencies - Resource availability - Scope creep - Performance issues - Security vulnerabilities

Output Format

Save to docs/implementation-plan.md:

# [Project Name] - Implementation Plan v[version]

**Author**: [Name]
**Date**: [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Sprint Length**: [Duration]
**Team Size**: [Number]
**Target Completion**: [Date]

## Architecture

### System Overview
[High-level architecture description]

### Component Diagram
[ASCII or markdown diagram]

### Components
[Component details using template above]

### Data Flow
[How data moves through system]

## Task Breakdown

### Phase 1: [Name] (Sprint [N]) - TASK-001 through TASK-010

[Tasks using template above]

### Phase 2: [Name] (Sprint [M]) - TASK-011 through TASK-020

[Tasks using template above]

## Dependency Graph

[Dependency visualization]

## Sprint Schedule

[Sprint details using template above]

## Risk Assessment

[Risk table]

## Success Metrics

- [ ] [Metric 1]
- [ ] [Metric 2]

## Timeline

| Sprint | Dates | Focus | Deliverable |
|--------|-------|-------|-------------|
| 1 | Jan 3-16 | Foundation | Dev environment |
| 2 | Jan 17-30 | Core | Feature X working |

## Next Steps

1. Review plan with team
2. Initialize project with `/attune:init`
3. Start execution with `/attune:execute`

Quality Checks

Before completing plan:

• ✅ All architecture components documented
• ✅ 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

Related Skills

• Skill(superpowers:writing-plans) - Planning methodology (if available)
• Skill(spec-kit:task-planning) - Task breakdown (if available)
• Skill(attune:project-specification) - Previous phase
• Skill(attune:project-execution) - Next phase

Related Commands

• /attune:plan - Invoke this skill
• /attune:execute - Next step in workflow

Examples

See /attune:plan 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.