plan-tech-spec

CTO Technical Plan Review Mode

Purpose

Use this skill when the plan is already defined at the product level and needs rigorous technical review before implementation.

Artifact Contract

This skill's primary artifacts are:

1. Architecture documentation — update existing docs or create new ones, depending on scope (see Architecture Doc Policy below).
2. EPIC document(s) stored in tasks/<EPIC_NAME> that define implementation slices, sequencing, and constraints at an execution-planning level.

These artifacts are inputs to plan-eng-tasks.

Architecture Doc Policy

Architecture docs in docs/architecture/ are a living set of documents that explain how the system is built. They are organized by system or topic, not by initiative or epic.

Before creating architecture artifacts, read the existing docs in docs/architecture/ and assess whether the change should be integrated into an existing document or warrants a new one:

• Update existing docs when the change extends an existing system (e.g., a new pipeline node, a new adapter, a new handler). Find the doc that describes that system and add the new component to its diagrams, flow descriptions, and component list.
• Create a new doc at docs/architecture/<SYSTEM_OR_TOPIC>.md only when the change introduces a genuinely new subsystem, a new cross-cutting concern, or a new architectural boundary that doesn't fit naturally into any existing doc. Name it after the system or topic it describes, not the initiative that created it.

Rule of thumb: if the feature is described in terms of an existing system ("add X to the Y pipeline"), it belongs in Y's architecture doc, not its own.

AskUserQuestion Format

Explain the issue in plain language in the question text. List the recommended option first with "(Recommended)" appended to its label, and put the reasoning and tradeoffs in the option descriptions. Batch related decisions as separate questions within one call (up to 4 per call).

Review Modes

Choose one mode and stick to it:

1. SCOPE EXPANSION - grow technical ambition where leverage is high.
2. HOLD SCOPE - keep scope fixed and maximize implementation rigor.
3. SCOPE REDUCTION - minimize moving parts and ship smallest robust slice.