# Plans and small steps

> 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.

## Analogy

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 coding-agent doesn't try to build the whole app in one giant leap. Instead, it turns the spec into a plan 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 branch (such as `feature/recipe-list`), works in small steps, and saves a commit 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 push.

Because `tasks/todo.md` lives inside your repo, 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.

## 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

```text
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.
```

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Source: [Agentic Makers](https://agenticmakers.app/en/learn/plans-and-small-steps) · License: CC BY 4.0