KeyanVakil/plan-before-you-code

Stop. Think. Plan. Then code.

Steps

1. Understand the request — read any relevant existing files, ask one clarifying question if the scope is genuinely ambiguous.
2. Produce a structured plan with these sections:

Problem Statement

One paragraph: what is being built, why it's needed, and what "done" looks like.

Requirements

Split into:

• Must have (breaks the feature if missing)
• Nice to have (worth noting, not blocking)
• Out of scope (explicitly excluded to prevent scope creep)

Data Model

Define the shape of any new or modified data: fields, types, relationships, and constraints. Use a simple table or TypeScript interface format.

API / Interface Surface

List every new function, route, component, or event that will be created or modified. For each:

• Name and signature
• What it does
• What calls it / what calls it back

Implementation Steps

Ordered list of concrete coding tasks, small enough that each one could be a single commit. Flag which steps have dependencies.

Edge Cases & Risks

Things that could go wrong: race conditions, auth gaps, data migration concerns, external API failures, performance cliffs.

Open Questions

Anything that needs a human decision before or during implementation. Don't proceed past this section until these are resolved.

Rules

• The plan is a contract, not a suggestion — don't deviate from it without flagging the change
• Keep it terse: one sentence per requirement, no padding
• If the plan reveals the task is larger than expected, surface that before writing a single line of code