cuioss/planning

Planning Documentation Standards

Enforcement

Execution mode: Reference library; load standards on-demand for planning documentation tasks.

Prohibited actions:

• Do not include implementation details or rationale in planning documents; focus on task lists, status, and traceability
• Do not archive completed tasks; leave them in the planning document with updated status
• Do not create planning documents without traceability links to requirements
• Do not load all standards at once; load progressively based on current task

Constraints:

• Planning documents follow the project's documentation format (see pm-documents:ref-asciidoc for AsciiDoc format rules)
• Status indicators must follow the defined set (PLANNED, IN PROGRESS, IMPLEMENTED, etc.)
• Task groups must link to originating requirements or specifications
• Documents must be kept current as living documentation

Standards for creating, structuring, and maintaining project planning documents that track implementation tasks while maintaining traceability to requirements and specifications.

What This Skill Provides

Format Note

This skill's standards files are in Markdown (.md) format as required for marketplace bundles. The standards describe planning document structure and conventions that are format-agnostic. Code examples use AsciiDoc syntax; for AsciiDoc formatting rules, see pm-documents:ref-asciidoc.

Comprehensive Planning Standards

This skill provides complete standards for:

• Document structure - Location, naming, header format, and core sections
• Task organization - Hierarchical structure and grouping strategies
• Status tracking - Status indicators, task details, and lifecycle management
• Traceability - Linking tasks to requirements and specifications
• Maintenance - Keeping planning documents current and high-quality
• Examples - Complete working examples demonstrating all patterns

Core Principles

Planning Document Purpose

Planning documents bridge requirements and specifications with actual implementation work by:

• Breaking down high-level requirements into actionable tasks
• Tracking implementation progress
• Maintaining traceability from tasks to requirements
• Providing visibility into project status

Separation of Concerns

Planning documents focus on task lists, status tracking, and traceability - not implementation details or rationale. See standards/document-structure.md for complete separation of concerns guidance.

Living Documentation

Planning documents are dynamic and updated frequently as work progresses - they reflect current project state rather than being archived. See standards/maintenance.md for complete living documentation guidance and update frequency recommendations.

When to Activate This Skill

Activate this skill when:

• Creating new planning documents - Setting up TODO.adoc for a new project
• Organizing tasks - Structuring implementation work hierarchically
• Tracking progress - Marking task status and maintaining current state
• Maintaining traceability - Linking tasks to requirements and specifications
• Reviewing planning quality - Ensuring planning documents follow standards

Workflow

Load standards progressively based on the current task — do not load all at once.

| Task Context | Standard | Key Content | |-------------|----------|-------------| | Creating/reviewing document structure | standards/document-structure.md | Location, naming, header format, core sections, separation of concerns | | Organizing tasks hierarchically | standards/task-organization.md | Heading structure, grouping strategies (component/feature/layer/phase) | | Tracking task status and lifecycle | standards/status-tracking.md | Status indicators, usage examples, implementation notes, task lifecycle | | Linking tasks to requirements | standards/requirement-linking.md | Requirement/specification links, multiple references, traceability | | Maintaining planning documents | standards/maintenance.md | Update frequency, archive strategy, quality standards, anti-patterns | | Need concrete examples | standards/examples.md | Complete example document with all patterns demonstrated |

Related Skills

Related Skills in Bundle

• pm-requirements:requirements-authoring - Standards for requirements and specification documentation that planning tasks trace to
• pm-requirements:setup - Standards for creating initial TODO structure during project setup
• pm-requirements:traceability - Standards for linking planning tasks to implementation code

External Standards

• pm-documents:ref-asciidoc - AsciiDoc formatting and structure
• plan-marshall:workflow-integration-git - Committing planning document changes