Planning & Building

Planning & Building

Claude Kit provides a structured workflow for turning ideas into working code: Brainstorm > Plan > Execute > Verify.

The Workflow

"I need to add user authentication"
        │
        ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  Brainstorming   │  Explore requirements, ask questions,
│                  │  evaluate approaches, validate design
└────────┬────────┘
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  Writing Plans   │  Break into tasks, exact file paths,
│                  │  code samples, verification steps
└────────┬────────┘
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Executing Plans  │  Fresh subagent per task, code review
│                  │  between tasks, quality gates
└────────┬────────┘
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  Verification    │  Run tests, verify builds,
│                  │  evidence before claims
└─────────────────┘

Phase 1: Brainstorming

Triggers on: “brainstorm”, “design”, “explore”, “what if”, “how should we”, “trade-offs”

The brainstorming skill uses a three-phase process:

1. Understanding — Asks one question at a time to clarify requirements. Prefers multiple-choice over open-ended questions.
2. Exploration — Presents 2-3 approaches with trade-offs, leads with a recommendation.
3. Design — Presents the validated design in digestible 200-300 word sections.

Example

You: "Let's brainstorm adding real-time notifications"

Claude: "Which delivery mechanism fits your use case best?
  a) WebSockets — persistent connection, instant delivery
  b) Server-Sent Events — simpler, one-way push
  c) Polling — simplest, but higher latency"

You: "b) SSE"

Claude: "## Approach 1: SSE + Redis Pub/Sub (Recommended)
  Server pushes events via SSE, Redis coordinates across instances.
  - Pros: Simple, works with load balancers, auto-reconnect built in
  - Cons: One-way only (client can't push back)

  ## Approach 2: SSE + PostgreSQL LISTEN/NOTIFY
  ..."

Phase 2: Writing Plans

Triggers on: “plan”, “break down”, “implementation steps”, “task list”

The writing-plans skill creates detailed implementation plans with:

• Exact file paths for every change
• Complete code samples (not descriptions)
• Verification commands with expected output
• 2-5 minute task granularity

Plan Structure

## Task 1: Create User model with email field

**Files**:
- Create: `src/models/user.ts`
- Test: `src/models/user.test.ts`

**Steps**:
1. Write failing test
2. Verify test fails
3. Implement minimally
4. Verify test passes
5. Commit

Phase 3: Executing Plans

Triggers on: “execute the plan”, “run the plan”, “implement the plan”

The executing-plans skill runs each task with:

• Fresh subagent per task — Prevents context pollution
• Code review between tasks — Catches issues early
• Quality gates — Critical issues must be fixed before proceeding

Execution Flow

Task 1 → Implement → Review → Fix issues → ✓
Task 2 → Implement → Review → Fix issues → ✓
Task 3 → Implement → Review → Fix issues → ✓
Final comprehensive review → ✓

Phase 4: Verification

Auto-triggers on: completion claims (“done”, “fixed”, “tests pass”)

The verification-before-completion skill requires evidence before any completion claim:

• Run the actual test suite and read the output
• Verify the build succeeds
• Check that the feature works as intended

Supporting Skills

These skills activate automatically during planning and building:

Skill	When It Helps
feature-workflow	End-to-end feature development
sequential-thinking	Complex decisions needing step-by-step reasoning
languages	Python/TypeScript/JavaScript idioms and patterns
backend-frameworks	FastAPI, Django, NestJS, Express patterns
frontend	React, Next.js component architecture
databases	Schema design, queries, migrations
state-management	Choosing between useState, Zustand, TanStack Query

Supporting Agents

Agent	Role
planner	Research and create implementation plans
brainstormer	Explore solutions and evaluate trade-offs
researcher	Research technologies and best practices

Related Pages

• Testing & Debugging — TDD and debugging workflows
• Reviewing & Shipping — Code review and git workflows
• Skills Reference — All 44 skills