thorough

thorough

A Claude Code plugin for requirements-first development. Separates project requirements, feature planning, and implementation into distinct phases — so Claude asks the right questions before writing any code.

Questions are presented as interactive multiple-choice selections — no walls of text to read and respond to.

Why

Claude is eager to help. Sometimes too eager. Given a vague prompt like "build me an API," it will pick a framework, invent a schema, guess at auth, and hand you 200 lines of code built on assumptions you never agreed to.

thorough fixes this with three commands:

Command	Purpose
/thorough:sketch	Create a full project requirements document
/thorough:plan	Plan a specific feature for implementation
/thorough:code	TDD implementation of a planned feature

How it works

/thorough:sketch — Project requirements

Creates a comprehensive requirements document (REQUIREMENTS.md) tailored to your specific project. Unlike fixed templates, it:

1. Analyzes your request to determine what kind of software you're building (web app, CLI, API, library, etc.)
2. Generates project-specific categories — a web app gets Pages & Navigation; a CLI gets Commands & Flags; an API gets Endpoints & Auth. No irrelevant sections.
3. Asks targeted questions through interactive multiple-choice, in priority rounds
4. Checks feasibility before committing to the spec
5. Writes a structured requirements document with user stories, data model, scope boundaries, and acceptance tests

/thorough:plan — Feature planning

Plans a specific feature or user story from the requirements document:

1. Reads REQUIREMENTS.md and extracts everything relevant to the feature
2. Clarifies feature-specific details that the requirements doc left open
3. Explores the codebase for patterns, conventions, and related implementations
4. Produces an implementation plan with file list, build order, test plan, and edge cases

/thorough:code — TDD implementation

Implements the planned feature using strict Test-Driven Development:

1. Breaks the plan into implementable units ordered by dependency
2. For each unit: write failing tests → run → write minimal code → run → refactor
3. Verifies against acceptance criteria from the plan
4. Stops and asks if anything becomes unclear mid-implementation

Install

Prerequisites

• Claude Code CLI installed and working

Option A — Plugin install (recommended)

/plugin marketplace add yasinishyn/claude-thorough
/plugin install thorough@yasinishyn-claude-thorough
/reload-plugins

Option B — Personal install (available in all your projects)

git clone https://github.com/yasinishyn/claude-thorough.git /tmp/thorough
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/sketch ~/.claude/skills/plan ~/.claude/skills/code
cp /tmp/thorough/skills/sketch/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/sketch/SKILL.md
cp /tmp/thorough/skills/plan/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/plan/SKILL.md
cp /tmp/thorough/skills/code/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/code/SKILL.md

With this method skills are invoked as /sketch, /plan, /code (no namespace prefix).

Option C — Project install (shared with collaborators via git)

git clone https://github.com/yasinishyn/claude-thorough.git /tmp/thorough
mkdir -p .claude/skills/sketch .claude/skills/plan .claude/skills/code
cp /tmp/thorough/skills/sketch/SKILL.md .claude/skills/sketch/SKILL.md
cp /tmp/thorough/skills/plan/SKILL.md .claude/skills/plan/SKILL.md
cp /tmp/thorough/skills/code/SKILL.md .claude/skills/code/SKILL.md
git add .claude/skills/
git commit -m "Add thorough skills"

Verify installation

Start a new Claude Code session and run:

/thorough:sketch build me a website

If installed correctly, Claude will analyze your request and present interactive questions instead of writing code.

Usage

Typical workflow

# Step 1: Define the project
/thorough:sketch build me a website where I can add RSS feeds and it generates a newsletter

# (Answer interactive questions across multiple rounds)
# (Review REQUIREMENTS.md — edit if needed)

# Step 2: Plan a feature
/thorough:plan add RSS feed management

# (Review the implementation plan)

# Step 3: Implement
/thorough:code

# Step 4: Plan the next feature
/thorough:plan generate newsletter from articles

# ...and so on

Force flag (skip all phases)

/thorough:sketch -f parse this CSV and dump it to JSON

Skips all phases, states assumptions upfront, and writes the document immediately.

Natural language triggers

These phrases also activate /thorough:sketch:

• "be thorough"
• "think it through"
• "don't assume"
• "plan this out"
• "interrogate the requirements"

File structure