planning-with-files

name: planning-with-files version: 4.1.0-fractal description: Implements Manus-style file-based planning for complex tasks. Creates task_plan.md, findings.md, and progress.md. Use when starting complex multi-step tasks, research projects, or any task requiring >5 tool calls. user-invocable: true allowed-tools:

• Read
• Write
• Edit
• Bash
• Glob
• Grep
• WebFetch
• WebSearch hooks: SessionStart:
  • hooks:
    • type: command command: "echo '[planning-with-files] Ready. Auto-activates for complex tasks, or invoke manually with /planning-with-files'"

PreToolUse: - matcher: "Write|Edit|Bash" hooks: - type: command command: "cat task_plan.md 2>/dev/null | head -30 || true" PostToolUse: - matcher: "Write|Edit" hooks: - type: command command: "echo '[planning-with-files] File updated. If this completes a phase, update task_plan.md status.'" Stop: - hooks: - type: command command: "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/check-complete.sh"

Planning with Files

Work like Manus: Use persistent markdown files as your "working memory on disk."

Important: Where Files Go

When using this skill:

• Templates are stored in the skill directory at ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/templates/
• Your planning files (task_plan.md, findings.md, progress.md) should be created in your project directory — the folder where you're working

This ensures your planning files live alongside your code, not buried in the skill installation folder.

Quick Start

Before ANY complex task:

1. Create task_plan.md in your project — Use templates/task_plan.md as reference
2. Create findings.md in your project — Use templates/findings.md as reference
3. Create progress.md in your project — Use templates/progress.md as reference
4. Re-read plan before decisions — Refreshes goals in attention window
5. Update after each phase — Mark complete, log errors

Note: All three planning files should be created in your current working directory (your project root), not in the skill's installation folder.

The Core Pattern

Context Window = RAM (volatile, limited)
Filesystem = Disk (persistent, unlimited)

→ Anything important gets written to disk.

File Purposes

Critical Rules

🧠 Knowledge Modules (Fractal Skills)

1. 1. Create Plan First

2. 2. The 2-Action Rule

3. 3. Read Before Decide

4. 4. Update After Act

5. 5. Log ALL Errors

6. 6. Never Repeat Failures