---
name: plan-executor-with-checkpoints
description: "Runs a written plan one task at a time with a check after each, and stops cold at the first failure instead of pushing on. Use when a written implementation plan is ready to be carried out step by step with verification after each task. Do not use for writing the plan itself or debugging a failure the plan did not anticipate. Related topics: coding, productivity."
---

# Plan Executor With Checkpoints

Runs a written plan one task at a time with a check after each, and stops cold at the first failure instead of pushing on.

## When to use

Use this skill when a written implementation plan is ready to be carried out step by step with verification after each task. Do not use it for writing the plan itself or debugging a failure the plan did not anticipate.

## 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. Run the verification command first and record the baseline result so pre-existing failures are known.
3. For each task, make only the described change, run the check and read the real output before marking it done.
4. On a failed check, apply the chosen failure rule and report the exact output without altering tests to hide it.
5. Stop and describe the problem when a task is wrong or larger than planned, instead of widening the change.
6. Finish with a full check run and a summary of tasks done, skipped and surprising.

## Inputs

- **The plan** (longer free text)
- **Verification command** (free text, e.g. "The command that runs the tests or checks")
- **Starting state** (free text, e.g. "Branch name and whether the suite is green now")
- **On failure** (choose one: Stop and report, Try one fix then stop, Skip and continue)
- **Report after each task** (choose one: Yes, No)

## Output

A running log with one line per task showing the check output summary, then a final summary listing completed tasks, skipped tasks and surprises.

## Prompt template

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

### Plan Executor With Checkpoints

Execute this plan one task at a time and stop at the first failure.

- The plan: {{The plan}}
- Verification command: {{Verification command}}
- Starting state: {{Starting state}}
- On failure: {{On failure}}
- Report after each task: {{Report after each task}}

Before starting, run the verification command once and record the baseline, so later failures are not blamed on the plan. Then for each task in order: restate the goal in one line, make only the change the task describes, run the verification command, and read its actual output. Mark the task done only when the output shows what the task promised. If a check fails, follow the failure setting, and never edit a test to make it pass unless the task says so. If a task turns out to be wrong or too big, stop and say what you found rather than improvising a larger change. When all tasks are done, run the full check one last time and summarise tasks completed, tasks skipped and anything surprising.

## Pitfalls

- Marking a task done because the edit was made, not because the check output proved it.
- Weakening a failing test to get a green run, which hides the very defect the check found.
- Carrying on after a failure, so later tasks build on a broken base and the cause gets lost.