---
name: bite-sized-implementation-plan
description: "Breaks an approved design into small tasks of a few minutes each, naming the exact files, signatures and the test that proves every one. Use when an approved design needs to become an ordered list of tiny tasks with exact files and proving tests. Do not use for deciding what to build in the first place or running the plan task by task. Related topics: coding, productivity."
---

# Bite-Sized Implementation Plan

Breaks an approved design into small tasks of a few minutes each, naming the exact files, signatures and the test that proves every one.

## When to use

Use this skill when an approved design needs to become an ordered list of tiny tasks with exact files and proving tests. Do not use it for deciding what to build in the first place or running the plan task by task.

## Workflow

1. Ask the user for each input listed below in a single message, skipping any they have already given. Where options are listed, offer them, but accept other answers too.
2. Read the design and the repository layout and list every file the work will create or change.
3. Split the work into tasks of the chosen size, each leaving the test suite green when finished.
4. Give each task its exact paths, signatures, first failing test and the command that proves completion.
5. Reorder so the riskiest assumption is proven in the first few tasks and no task depends on a later one.
6. Add commit points when requested and list what the plan leaves out.

## Inputs

- **Approved design** (longer free text)
- **Repository layout** (longer free text)
- **Language and test runner** (free text, e.g. "Python with pytest or TypeScript with vitest")
- **Task size** (choose one: 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes)
- **Include commit points** (choose one: Yes, No)

## Output

A numbered plan where each task has goal, files, signatures, failing test, proving command and optional commit message, followed by a short out-of-scope list.

## Prompt template

Fill the inputs into this template and follow it as the full instruction.

### Bite-Sized Implementation Plan

Turn this approved design into an implementation plan that a fresh engineer could follow with no other context.

- Approved design: {{Approved design}}
- Repository layout: {{Repository layout}}
- Language and test runner: {{Language and test runner}}
- Task size: {{Task size}}
- Include commit points: {{Include commit points}}

Read the design and the layout first, then list the files that will be created or changed before writing any task. Each task must be small enough to finish in the chosen time and must leave the tests passing. For every task give: the goal in one sentence, the exact file paths, the function or type signatures to add, the test to write first with its expected failing message, and the command that proves the task is done. Order tasks so each builds on a passing state, with the riskiest assumption proven earliest. When commit points are on, end each task with a one-line commit message. Finish with a short list of things the plan deliberately leaves out.

## Pitfalls

- Writing tasks that say 'implement the service' with no signatures, which forces the executor to redesign on the fly.
- Tasks that only turn green together, so no checkpoint can prove progress.
- Naming files that do not exist in the layout, which sends the executor hunting.