Babysitter plan-writing

Transform research findings into actionable implementation plans with stakes-based rigor, test-first strategy, and granular task decomposition.

install

source · Clone the upstream repo

git clone https://github.com/a5c-ai/babysitter

Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/

T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/a5c-ai/babysitter "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/library/methodologies/rpikit/skills/plan-writing" ~/.claude/skills/a5c-ai-babysitter-plan-writing && rm -rf "$T"

manifest: library/methodologies/rpikit/skills/plan-writing/SKILL.md

Plan Writing

Overview

Convert research findings into actionable implementation plans. Scales planning rigor to stakes level. Every code-changing task specifies tests before implementation.

When to Use

After research phase identifies what needs to change
Before implementing any medium or high stakes changes
When requirements are clear and codebase is understood

Process

Load research - Find
```
*-<topic>-research.md
```
in
```
docs/plans/
```
Classify stakes - Low (isolated, reversible), Medium (multiple files), High (architectural)
Define success criteria - Functional, non-functional, and acceptance criteria
Decompose tasks - Granular steps with file paths, line references, verification methods
Plan tests - Test specification as first sub-step per task (test-first)
Assess risks - Breaking changes, performance, security, dependencies, rollback strategy
Write plan document -
```
docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-plan.md
```
Approval gate - Human approves, requests changes, or returns to research

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Vague task descriptions without specific file references
Missing verification criteria for any step
Combining test writing and implementation into single steps
Planning rigor mismatched to stakes level
Proceeding without explicit user approval

Tool Use

Invoke via babysitter process:

methodologies/rpikit/rpikit-plan