flow-next-plan_skill

Overview

This skill creates structured epics and tasks in .flow/ from a feature request, Flow ID, or short description. It is a plan-first tool: it produces specs, tasks, and acceptance criteria but does not write implementation code. Trigger it with /flow-next:plan plus text or Flow IDs (fn-1-abc, fn-1-abc.2, or legacy fn-1).

How this skill works

The planner parses your arguments, optional flags (research, review, depth), and the configured review backend, then runs a guided question flow when needed. It uses the bundled flowctl to read/write all plan artifacts under .flow/ and enforces repo conventions, task sizing, and non-implementation rules. Research modes (repo-scout or context-scout) and review modes (codex, rp, export, none) are supported and influence depth and follow-up actions.

When to use it

• Turning a feature idea or bug report into an epic and discrete tasks
• Refining an existing Flow epic (fn-N or fn-N-xxx) or a specific task (fn-N-xxx.M)
• Preparing work for Ralph autonomous or multi-model review gates
• Before implementation work to avoid drift and ensure consistent gating
• When you need repo-aware plans that integrate with flowctl and .flow/

Best practices

• Always use the bundled flowctl wrapper: FLOWCTL="${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/flowctl" $FLOWCTL <cmd>
• Keep each task sized for one /flow-next:work iteration (~100k tokens max); split large efforts
• Do not include implementation code in plans—use signatures, patterns, and references only
• Store all artifacts only under .flow/ (.flow/epics, .flow/tasks, .flow/specs); never use external TODO trackers
• Choose research and review options deliberately (defaults: standard depth, repo-scout, review backend if configured)

Example use cases

• /flow-next:plan Add OAuth login for users — produce epic, tasks, acceptance criteria, rollout notes
• /flow-next:plan fn-1-abc — expand legacy epic into tasks and validate sizing
• /flow-next:plan fn-2.3 then review via /flow-next:plan-review — refine a single task and queue review
• /flow-next:plan --research=rp --review=codex --depth=deep New multi-tenant config model
• /flow-next:plan fn-5 then review with rp — prepare exportable spec for RepoPrompt gates