plan-task

Plan Task

When to use

• "Help me plan X"
• "How do I do Y?"
• "What's the best way to approach Z?"
• "Break this down for me"

Steps

1. Clarify the goal — restate it in one sentence. If the goal is fuzzy ("improve my website"), use ask_questions to nail down:

   • What does "done" look like?
   • Hard constraints (deadline, budget, must/must-not)
   • Resources available (time, skills, tools)

2. Break into steps — produce 5-10 concrete steps. Each step should:

   • Start with a verb (Create, Send, Review, Decide, Test)
   • Be small enough to complete in one session
   • Have a clear "done" state

3. Identify dependencies — note which steps must happen before others. Don't over-sequence — most steps can run in parallel.

4. Estimate effort for each step (S/M/L or hours, depending on context).

5. Display as progress tracker — use show_progress with all steps marked upcoming. The user can update status as they work.

6. Add a critical path note — one sentence: which 1-2 steps are most likely to delay everything if they slip?

7. Offer to act via offer_choices:

   • "Start with step 1"
   • "Save this plan to my files"
   • "Add a deadline"
   • "Adjust the steps"

Style

• Concrete actions, not abstractions ("Draft the brief" not "Think about scope")
• Right level of detail — for a 1-day task, ~5 steps; for a multi-week project, ~10 with sub-steps
• Realistic estimates — pad for uncertainty, especially first steps

What not to do

• Don't generate more than 10 top-level steps — that's a sign you should chunk into phases
• Don't include "research the problem" as a step (that's planning, not the work)
• Don't sequence things that can run in parallel just because they "feel" sequential
• Don't end without a clear first step the user can take right now