research-plan-implement

Purpose

This skill orchestrates the complete workflow for going from an open question to an actionable implementation plan. It enforces three distinct phases with clear boundaries:

1. Research — Understand the problem space, gather evidence, identify alternatives.
2. Propose — Evaluate alternatives, recommend an approach, get user buy-in.
3. Plan — Decompose the approved approach into phased implementation with gates.

Each phase produces a structured artifact. No phase may be skipped.

Phase 1: Research

Execute the research skill fully. Produce a complete research brief covering:

• Internal codebase findings (with file path references).
• External context (if applicable).
• 2–5 identified alternatives.
• Hard and soft constraints.
• Unknowns and risks.

Handoff criterion: A research brief with at least 2 alternatives and documented constraints exists.

Do not proceed to Phase 2 until the research brief is complete.

Phase 2: Propose

Execute the propose skill using the research brief as input. Produce a proposal covering:

• Evaluation of each alternative against relevant dimensions.
• A ranked recommendation with rationale.
• Key trade-offs and conditions that would change the recommendation.
• Pre-planning decisions the user must make.

Handoff criterion: A proposal with a clear recommendation exists.

Present the proposal to the user and wait for approval before proceeding. If the user wants changes, revise the proposal. If the user rejects all alternatives, return to Phase 1 to research further.

Phase 3: Plan

Once the user approves the recommendation, execute the planning skill to decompose it into implementation phases. The planning skill receives:

• The approved recommendation from the proposal.
• Constraints from the research brief.
• Any decisions the user made during proposal review.

The plan must reference findings from the research brief (e.g., existing patterns to follow, files to modify) rather than re-discovering them.

Handoff criterion: A phased implementation plan with gates exists.

Output format

The final output contains all three artifacts in sequence:

1. Research Brief (from Phase 1)
2. Proposal (from Phase 2)
3. Implementation Plan (from Phase 3)

Each artifact uses its respective template:

• Research template
• Proposal template
• Plan template

Rules

• No skipping phases. Even if the answer seems obvious, research grounds the proposal in evidence and the proposal forces explicit trade-off analysis.
• No combining phases. Each phase produces its own distinct artifact. Research does not recommend. Proposals do not decompose into implementation steps. Plans do not re-evaluate alternatives.
• User approval gates Phase 2 → Phase 3. Never plan implementation for an approach the user hasn't approved.
• Carry context forward. Each phase builds on the previous. The plan must reference research findings. The proposal must reference research alternatives. Do not re-discover what was already found.