PLAN → IMPLEMENT → VALIDATE → (iterate)
Granularity Principle
Multiple small PIV loops — one feature slice per loop, built completely before moving on.
Complex features (15+ tasks, 4+ phases): /planning auto-decomposes into sub-plans.
Planning (Layer 1 + Layer 2)
Layer 1 — Project Planning (done once):
- PRD (what to build), CLAUDE.md (how to build), reference guides (on-demand)
Layer 2 — Task Planning (done for every feature):
- Vibe Planning — casual conversation to explore ideas, ask questions, research codebase. See:
templates/VIBE-PLANNING-GUIDE.md - Structured Plan — turn conversation into a markdown document
- Use template:
templates/STRUCTURED-PLAN-TEMPLATE.md - Save to:
requests/{feature}-plan.md - Apply the 4 pillars of Context Engineering (see
sections/03_context_engineering.mdfor pillar → plan mapping)
- Use template:
Do NOT take your PRD and use it as a structured plan. Break it into granular Layer 2 plans — one per PIV loop.
Implementation
- Fresh conversation →
/execute requests/{feature}-plan.md - Trust but verify
Validation
- AI: tests + linting. Human: code review + manual testing.
- 5-level pyramid: Syntax → Types → Unit → Integration → Human. See
reference/validation-discipline.md. - Small issues → fix prompts. Major issues → revert to save point, tweak plan, retry.