SkillValidated

Plan-then-execute — a working procedure for non-trivial tasks

A skill your agent invokes when a task is non-trivial: write the spec and acceptance check, produce a step-ordered plan, get it approved, then execute one step at a time with a checkpoint after each. The procedure form of the plan-first rule.

$cosq add plan-then-execute

Free, works signed out. No CLI? Copy the file below into your repo — same result.

Why this one

Experienced developers plan before they generate (UChicago); spec → plan → implement → verify is the reliability consensus for agent output.

How to use it

  1. 1Invoke on any task that touches more than one file or one behavior
  2. 2Approve the plan before the first edit

What gets installed

Pick your tool to preview the exact file cosq add writes — byte-for-byte. Prefer copy-paste? Use the copy button on the file.

.claude/skills/plan-then-execute/SKILL.md(created)
---
name: plan-then-execute
description: Use when starting any non-trivial coding task: produce a spec and a step-ordered plan, get approval, then execute step by step with checkpoints.
---

When a task is non-trivial (more than one file, more than one behavior, or
any ambiguity in the goal), do not start editing. Instead:

1. **Spec** — restate the goal and the acceptance check in one or two
   sentences. If the acceptance check is unclear, ask before proceeding.
2. **Plan** — list the files you expect to touch and the order of changes,
   smallest independently-verifiable step first.
3. **Checkpoint** — present the spec and plan, and wait for approval.
4. **Execute** — one step at a time. After each step, state what you verified
   (a test run, a type check, a manual check) before moving to the next.
5. **Close** — confirm the acceptance check from step 1 explicitly.

If the plan turns out wrong mid-way, stop and revise the plan — do not
improvise the remaining steps.