Create Plan Skill

Tools and scripts for creating and validating implementation plans.

Files

• SKILL.md - Main skill instructions for AI agents
• validate-plan.sh - Validates a single plan file
• validate-all-plans.sh - Validates all plans in a directory

Validation Scripts

validate-plan.sh

Validates the structure and content of a single plan file.

Usage:

./.forge/skills/create-plan/validate-plan.sh plans/2025-11-27-example-v1.md

Checks:

• ✓ Filename follows convention: YYYY-MM-DD-task-name-vN.md
  • Year is reasonable (2020 to current year + 1)
  • Month is valid (01-12)
  • Day is valid (01-31)
  • Task name is meaningful (not generic like "test", "task", "temp")
  • Task name length is reasonable (5-60 characters)
  • Version number is reasonable (not > 50)
  • No uppercase letters or underscores (use lowercase and hyphens only)
• ✓ File is in plans/ directory
• ✓ All required sections present:
  • Main heading (# Title)
  • ## Objective
  • ## Implementation Plan
  • ## Verification Criteria
  • ## Potential Risks and Mitigations
  • ## Alternative Approaches
• ✓ Implementation Plan uses checkbox format (- [ ])
• ✓ No numbered lists or plain bullets in Implementation Plan
• ✓ No code blocks (```) in the plan
• ✓ No code snippets (detects suspicious patterns)
• ✓ No placeholder tasks (TODO, TBD, etc.)
• ✓ Task quality and density:
  • Task descriptions are descriptive (≥ 20 characters recommended)
  • Average task length is substantial (30-200 chars recommended)
  • No generic/vague descriptions ("implement feature", "fix bug", etc.)
  • No duplicate or highly similar tasks
  • Consistent and sequential numbering if tasks are numbered
• ✓ Verification criteria have content
• ✓ Risks include mitigations
• ✓ Reasonable number of tasks (3-20)

Exit Codes:

• 0 - Validation passed
• 1 - Validation failed (errors found)

validate-all-plans.sh

Validates all plan files in a directory.

Usage:

# Validate all plans in default directory (plans/)
./.forge/skills/create-plan/validate-all-plans.sh

# Validate plans in custom directory
./.forge/skills/create-plan/validate-all-plans.sh path/to/plans

Exit Codes:

• 0 - All plans passed validation
• 1 - One or more plans failed validation

Integration

Pre-commit Hook

Add to .git/hooks/pre-commit:

#!/bin/bash
# Validate plans before committing

if git diff --cached --name-only | grep -q "^plans/.*\.md$"; then
    echo "Validating modified plans..."
    ./.forge/skills/create-plan/validate-all-plans.sh plans/
    exit $?
fi

CI/CD

Add to your CI pipeline:

- name: Validate Plans
  run: ./.forge/skills/create-plan/validate-all-plans.sh plans/

Example Valid Plan

See SKILL.md for the complete plan template structure.

Common Validation Errors

1. Invalid filename format: Must follow YYYY-MM-DD-task-name-vN.md pattern
   • Use lowercase letters only
   • Use hyphens (not underscores) to separate words
   • Use valid date (month 01-12, day 01-31, year 2020+)
   • Avoid generic names like "test", "task", "temp"
2. Missing checkboxes: Use - [ ] not 1. or -
3. Code blocks: Plans should use natural language, not code
4. Missing sections: All required sections must be present
5. Empty sections: Sections should have meaningful content
6. Poor task quality: Tasks should be descriptive and specific
   • Avoid short descriptions like "Do this", "Fix that", "Update code"
   • Avoid generic descriptions like "implement feature", "add functionality"
   • Include rationale and context in task descriptions
   • Aim for 30-150 characters per task description