Planning with Files

File-based planning for complex tasks. Use persistent markdown files as working memory to survive context resets. Creates task_plan.md, findings.md, and progress.md. Based on context engineering principles from Manus.

What's Inside

• Core pattern (filesystem as persistent memory)
• Three planning files: task_plan.md, findings.md, progress.md
• Four-phase workflow (create planning files → execute with discipline → handle errors → verify completion)
• The 2-Action Rule for saving findings
• The 3-Strike Protocol for error handling
• 5-Question Reboot Test for context verification
• Session recovery patterns
• Templates and helper scripts
• Anti-patterns

When to Use

• Multi-step tasks (3+ steps)
• Research tasks requiring web search
• Building/creating projects from scratch
• Tasks spanning more than 5 tool calls
• Anything requiring organization across multiple files
• Tasks where losing context would cause rework

Installation

npx add https://github.com/wpank/ai/tree/main/skills/meta/planning-with-files

OpenClaw / Moltbot / Clawbot

npx clawhub@latest install planning-files

Manual Installation

Cursor (per-project)

From your project root:

mkdir -p .cursor/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/meta/planning-with-files .cursor/skills/planning-with-files

Cursor (global)

mkdir -p ~/.cursor/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/meta/planning-with-files ~/.cursor/skills/planning-with-files

Claude Code (per-project)

From your project root:

mkdir -p .claude/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/meta/planning-with-files .claude/skills/planning-with-files

Claude Code (global)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r ~/.ai-skills/skills/meta/planning-with-files ~/.claude/skills/planning-with-files

Part of the Meta skill category.