Plan Before You Code

Overview

Understand the request, discover relevant context, propose a concise plan, get approval. Keep it fast, the goal is alignment, not a design workshop.

<HARD-GATE> Do NOT write any code or make any file changes until the user has approved your proposed approach. </HARD-GATE>

The Process

Step 1: Understand the Request

Read the user's message. You already have the "what", don't ask a series of questions up front. Only ask clarifying questions if:

• The request is genuinely ambiguous (two different valid interpretations)
• You discover during context check that key details are missing (e.g. which framework, which database)

In those cases, ask the specific questions you need, not a blanket "tell me more". Be explicit about what you need and why.

Step 2: Discover Context

Invoke oac:context-discovery with the task topic to find relevant project standards and patterns.

If context-discovery reports no context installed: proceed anyway, note it as "none" in the proposal and include the context hint (see Step 4). Do not pause or ask the user before proposing.

If context found: note the key files returned, reference them in your proposal.

Step 3: Ask Clarifying Questions (if needed)

After reviewing the context and the request, if there are still gaps that would significantly change the approach, ask them now, explicitly and concisely:

Before I propose an approach, I need a couple of details:

1. {specific question}, because {why it matters to the approach}
2. {specific question}, because {why it matters to the approach}

Keep it to the minimum needed. If you can make a reasonable assumption, state it in the proposal instead of asking.

Step 4: Propose

Present a lightweight plan. Short, not a full spec:

## Proposed Approach