Flow Next Plan

---
name: flow-next-plan
description: Plan a feature into a flow-next spec with tasks in .flow/. Use when asked to plan, spec out, or break down work (fn-N ids).
user-invocable: false
---

# Flow plan

Turn a rough idea into a spec with tasks in `.flow/`. This skill does not write code.

Follow this skill and linked workflows exactly. Deviations cause drift, bad gates, retries, and user frustration.

**`.flow/` is the only task tracker.** A run that recorded task state in a markdown TODO, a plan file, TodoWrite, or any other tracker has broken this — all task state is read and written via `flowctl`.

### Chart boundary (fn-135)

A **ready** (or already-captured) spec whose work is understood stays in plan - chart is too late. An unshaped oversized freeform idea with consequential unknowns is **not** plan input: recommend `/flow-next:chart` first (or `/flow-next:guide` when unsure). Plan decomposes work that is already understood; it does not replace discovery.

## Preamble

**CRITICAL: flowctl is BUNDLED — NOT installed globally.** `which flowctl` will fail (expected). Define once; subsequent blocks (here and in `steps.md`) use `$FLOWCTL`:

```bash
FLOWCTL="${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/scripts/flowctl"
[ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL="<plugin-root>/scripts/flowctl"   # <plugin-root> = the directory two levels above this skill's SKILL.md file (the harness gave you that file's absolute path when the skill loaded); substitute it literally
[ -x "$FLOWCTL" ] || FLOWCTL=".flow/bin/flowctl"
```

## Leftover copy artifacts (one-line nudge)

Before Step 0, check once whether this repo still carries flowctl copies from an older install layout — the same residue list flowctl exports as `LEGACY_COPY_ARTIFACTS`:

```bash
LEFTOVERS=""
for p in .flow/bin/flowctl .flow/bin/flowctl.cmd .flow/bin/flowctl.py \
         .flow/bin/flowctl_bootstrap.py .flow/bin/flowctl-help.txt \
         .flow/bin/flowctl_tracker .flow/templates/spec.md .flow/usage.md; do
  [ -e "$p" ] && LEFTOVERS="${LEFTOVERS}${p}"$'\n' || true
done   # || true: an empty LEFTOVERS (the normal case) must read as success
```

**None present → say nothing.** Silence is the normal case.

**Any present →** print ONE line: these files are leftovers, nothing reads them (every host resolves flowctl from the plugin install), and they can be deleted by hand or by `/flow-next:setup`. Then continue planning — never ask, never stop, never delete anything here. Plan compares no versions and reads no setup stamps at all; `/flow-next:setup` owns everything about the install.

**Role**: product-minded planner with strong repo awareness.
**Goal**: produce a spec with tasks that match existing conventions and reuse points.
**Task size**: every task must fit one `/flow-next:work` iteration (~100k tokens max). If it won't, split it.

## The Golden Rule: No Implementation Code

**Plans are specs, not implementations.** Never write the code that will be implemented.

### Code the plan may contain:
- **Signatures/interfaces** (what, not how): `function validate(input: string): Result`
- **Patterns from this repo** (with file:line ref): "Follow pattern at `src/auth.ts:42`"
- **Recent/surprising APIs** (from docs-scout): "React 19 changed X — use `useOptimistic` instead"
- **Non-obvious gotchas** (from practice-scout): "Must call `cleanup()` or memory leaks"

### Code the plan never contains:
- Complete function implementations
- Full class/module bodies
- "Here's what you'll write" blocks
- Copy-paste ready snippets (>10 lines)

**A spec that already contains the implementation is not a spec.** A plan carrying a runnable function body, a full module, or a >10-line copy-paste block has broken this.

**Why:** Implementation happens in `/flow-next:work` with fresh context. Writing it here wastes tokens in planning, review, and implementation — then causes drift when the implementer does it differently anyway.

## Input

Full request: $ARGUMENTS

Accepts:
- Feature/bug description in natural language
- Flow spec ID `fn-N-slug` (e.g., `fn-1-add-oauth`) or legacy `fn-N`/`fn-N-xxx` to refine existing spec
- Flow task ID `fn-N-slug.M` (e.g., `fn-1-add-oauth.2`) or legacy `fn-N.M`/`fn-N-xxx.M` to refine specific task
- **Resolvable tracker handle** — a tracker key like `wor-17` / `wor-17.2` that `flowctl show` resolves to the linked spec/task (fn-52.10). Treated as the existing spec/task, **never** as a new idea (R16). See the handle-recognition rule in Step 1.
- Chained instructions like "then review with /flow-next:plan-review"

Examples:
- `/flow-next:plan Add OAuth login for users`
- `/flow-next:plan fn-1-add-oauth`
- `/flow-next:plan fn-1` (legacy formats fn-1, fn-1-xxx still supported)
- `/flow-next:plan fn-1-add-oauth then review via /flow-next:plan-review`

If empty, ask: "What should I plan? Give me the feature or bug in 1-5 sentences." Under autonomous mode, do not ask — report `NEEDS_HUMAN: no planning input provided` and stop.

## FIRST: Parse Options or Ask Questions

### Autonomous mode (mode:autonomous / FLOW_AUTONOMOUS)

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for the literal token `mode:autonomous` (strip it, same shape as capture's `mode:autofix` — a NEW parse branch, never overloading that token). Also honor the env var `FLOW_AUTONOMOUS=1` as a secondary signal (process-level drivers). Either signal → `AUTONOMOUS=1`.

Under `AUTONOMOUS=1`:
- **No setup question is asked.** A question surfaced under `AUTONOMOUS=1` has broken this. Explicit passthrough flags (`--depth`, `--research`, `--review`) win as usual; for anything unset, apply the autonomous defaults: depth = `short`, research = `repo-scout`, review = configured backend (`none` when `REVIEW_BACKEND` is `ASK`).
- **Never hang on a question.** If a genuinely unanswerable ambiguity remains (e.g. empty input), stop cleanly with a one-line `NEEDS_HUMAN: <reason>` report instead of asking.
- Autonomy ≠ Ralph: neither `mode:autonomous` nor `FLOW_AUTONOMOUS` activates ralph-guard hooks or any receipt path — they gate question suppression only.

### Option Parsing (skip questions if found in arguments)

Parse the arguments for these patterns. If found, use them and skip questions:

**Research approach**: always `repo-scout` — there is no research-backend choice. `--research=grep` is accepted as a no-op; any other `--research` value is ignored.

**Review mode**:
- `--review=codex` or "review with codex" or "codex review" or "use codex" → Codex CLI
- `--review=rp` or "review with rp" or "rp chat" or "repoprompt review" → RepoPrompt chat (via `flowctl rp chat-send`)
- `--review=host` or "review with host" or "host review" or "use host" → host-native fresh-context reviewer subagent (fn-123 R5; pins in AGENTS.md model-routing)
- `--review=export` or "export review" or "external llm" → export for external LLM
- `--review=none` or `--no-review` or "no review" or "skip review" → no review

### If options NOT found in arguments

**Plan depth** (parse from args or ask):
- `--depth=short` or "quick" or "minimal" → SHORT
- `--depth=standard` or "normal" → STANDARD
- `--depth=deep` or "comprehensive" or "detailed" → DEEP
- Default: SHORT (simpler is better)

**If `AUTONOMOUS=1`:** skip every question below — apply the autonomous defaults above and continue.

Check the configured backend and route:

```bash
ACTIVE=0
# NO pipelines in the probe — a failed producer masked by a healthy consumer
# fails CLOSED. Capture raw first, rc-checked; parse separately.
RAW="$($FLOWCTL review-backend 2>/dev/null)" || ACTIVE=1        # probe ERROR ⇒ ACTIVE (fail open)
if [ "$ACTIVE" = "0" ]; then
  REVIEW_BACKEND="$(printf '%s' "$RAW" | tr -d '[:space:]' 2>/dev/null)" || ACTIVE=1   # parse ERROR ⇒ ACTIVE
  [ "$REVIEW_BACKEND" = "ASK" ] && ACTIVE=1
fi
[ "${AUTONOMOUS:-0}" = "1" ] && ACTIVE=0        # autonomous NEVER asks — defaults apply
if [ "$ACTIVE" = "1" ]; then
  echo "SETUP-QUESTIONS GATE ACTIVE — STOP. Read references/setup-questions.md before continuing."
fi
```

`review-backend` returns: `ASK` (not configured), or `rp`/`codex`/`copilot`/`cursor`/`host`/`none` (configured).

When the sentinel prints, STOP and Read [`references/setup-questions.md`](references/setup-questions.md) before any further step — it owns RepoPrompt eligibility, the two question variants, and the empty/ambiguous defaults.

**If REVIEW_BACKEND is rp, codex, copilot, cursor, host, or none** (already configured): ask nothing — depth defaults apply unless passed, research is `repo-scout`, review is the configured backend. Show the override hint:

```
(Tip: --depth=short|standard|deep, --review=rp|codex|host|none)
```

## Spec-id scheme (team default)

When Route B mints a brand-new spec, **tracker-first is the recommended team default** if `tracker.specIds=tracker` and the bridge is active — the tracker is the distributed allocator (`KEY-N-slug` / synthetic `gh-N` / `gl-N`). Gate lives in steps.md Route B (create-first then `--tracker-first`; silent flow-first degrade; explicit override wins). Setup owns the one-time question; no runtime nag.

## Workflow

Read [steps.md](steps.md) and follow each step in order.

**Step 1 readiness soft-check (fn-58)**: existing-spec inputs get an adoption-gated readiness check BEFORE the scout fan-out — warn-not-block, default proceed; repos that never adopted readiness see nothing. Details in steps.md Step 1.

**Optional paths**: `steps.md` gates the readiness warning, the Route A refine
path, the tracker-first mint, tracker projection, selected review, the
interactive next-steps menu, and the HTML render lens after their existing
config/choice/route signals. Their references stay cold when the path is not
taken; Step 0 remains the only config snapshot.

**Step 1 (Research) launches every scout in the depth-appropriate set as parallel multi-agent threads (Codex spawns them concurrently).** The set is the steps.md tier table — the full set at STANDARD/DEEP, the full set minus the three web-research scouts at SHORT. A plan whose research skipped a scout inside its own tier, or ran the set sequentially, has broken this. Each scout in the set provides unique signal.

## Output

All plans go into `.flow/`:
- Spec: `.flow/specs/fn-N-slug.json` + `.flow/specs/fn-N-slug.md`
- Tasks: `.flow/tasks/fn-N-slug.M.json` + `.flow/tasks/fn-N-slug.M.md`
- Render lens (only when `artifacts.html.enabled`): `.flow/artifacts/fn-N-slug/spec.html` (steps.md Step 8.5)

**Never write plan files outside `.flow/`. Never use TodoWrite for task tracking.**

## Output rules

- Only create/update specs and tasks via flowctl
- No code changes
- No plan files outside `.flow/`
- R-IDs are mandatory on new spec acceptance criteria — use `- **Rn:** ...` prose prefix format; never renumber after first review cycle; each behavioral R-ID enumerates error/boundary cases or records "no error surface beyond X" (see `steps.md` R-ID rule)