L13 · Plan · 4 min
Plans and small steps
In one sentence
A plan splits your spec into a sequence of small, independent tasks stored in tasks/plan.md and tracked in tasks/todo.md, so your coding agent builds one checkable piece at a time, saves a commit after every working step, and lets you verify progress without getting overwhelmed.
Think of it like this
Cooking a five-course dinner all in one pot is a recipe for burnt food and panic. A chef preps and tastes one dish at a time, ticking each off the list before starting the next. Your plan is that kitchen checklist.
How it works
Once you approve SPEC.md, your Definitioncoding agentAn AI that works in your project folder: it reads files, writes code and runs commands, with your permission.Open in the glossary → doesn't try to build the whole app in one giant leap. Instead, it turns the Definitionspec`SPEC.md`: what you're building, who it's for, what's in and out, and how you'll know it works.Open in the glossary → into a DefinitionplanThe spec split into small tasks, each finished and checkable on its own, in `tasks/plan.md`.Open in the glossary → across two files in your project: tasks/plan.md, which explains each task and how to check it, and tasks/todo.md, a simple checklist showing what is done and what is next.
A good task is small enough to finish and verify on its own: for example, “Create the empty app skeleton and error pages”, then “Add the recipe list page with sample items”, then “Connect the form that adds a new recipe”. If a task can't be tested by itself, it is still too big.
For each task, your agent creates a safe DefinitionbranchA safe copy of your project where changes are drafted. `main` is the live one.Open in the glossary → (such as feature/recipe-list), works in small steps, and saves a DefinitioncommitA checkpoint: a snapshot of what changed, with a short note. You can return to any commit.Open in the glossary → after every step that works. When the task is ready, it shows you the result so you can try it yourself, ticks the box in tasks/todo.md, and sends the checkpoints to GitHub with a DefinitionpushSending your commits from your computer up to GitHub.Open in the glossary →.
Because tasks/todo.md lives inside your Definitionrepo (repository)Your project folder plus its full history. Git records each checkpoint so you can go back to any version.Open in the glossary →, you can close your laptop at any point and come back days later. At the start of every session, your agent reads SPEC.md and tasks/todo.md and tells you right where you left off.
What it looks like in your project
Before writing any feature code, your agent creates tasks/plan.md and tasks/todo.md in your language and explains the list plainly. It waits for your OK on the plan, then starts Task 1 and stops to show you the working result before moving to Task 2.
Copy for your agent
Read SPEC.md and create tasks/plan.md and tasks/todo.md in my language. Break the work into small tasks that we can finish and check one by one, and wait for my OK before starting Task 1.
Quick check · 1 question