design_skill

Overview

This skill formalizes the solution design phase and produces a ready-to-use solution package under plan/. It guides ideation, compares feasible approaches for complex tasks, and generates a timestamped plan directory with why.md, how.md, and task.md. The skill enforces task granularity, risk mitigation, and tracking variables to hand off to implementation.

How this skill works

When invoked, the skill reads the knowledge base and project status, determines requirement type and project scale, and classifies task complexity. For complex tasks it generates 2–3 feasible solutions, evaluates each against fixed criteria, and requests user selection; for simple tasks it selects a single feasible solution and proceeds. After selection it creates a new plan/YYYYMMDDHHMM_<feature>/ package, populates why.md, how.md, and task.md using templates, writes risk-avoidance measures, and sets CREATED_PACKAGE for downstream commands.

When to use it

• Entering the solution design phase after requirements analysis (score ≥7)
• When you need documented, executable plan files (why.md/how.md/task.md)
• When architecture, tech selection, or multi-module changes are involved
• Before handing work to development or triggering automated execution
• When you need clear risk mitigation and verification tasks included

Best practices

• Always run knowledge base check first; rebuild kb if scan is insufficient
• Classify requirement as technical change or product feature to choose correct template
• Keep single-code-change tasks small (≤3 files standard, ≤2 for large projects)
• Include periodic verification and explicit security check tasks in task.md
• Use the generated CREATED_PACKAGE path for any automated execution to avoid mismatches

Example use cases

• Designing a new feature that affects multiple modules—produce comparison and pick recommended solution
• Refactoring a major subsystem—evaluate minimal-change vs full-refactor options and create plan package
• Adding a third-party framework or major library upgrade—query documentation and record in how.md
• Small bugfix or simple enhancement—auto-select single solution and generate task list
• Preparing a plan for automated execution (~exec) using the CREATED_PACKAGE set by this skill