Brainforge Knowledge

VIBE-PLANNING-GUIDE

3 min read

Vibe Planning Guide

Example prompts for the vibe planning phase. These are meant to be free-form and unstructured. Adapt them to your project - these show the progression, not exact words to use.

The Flow

Vibe planning is a conversation. You’re exploring, not committing. The goal is to get on the same page with the AI about what to build before creating the structured plan.

Example Prompts (in order)

Prompt 1: Explore the codebase

Read [key files] and deeply understand how [existing feature] is built.

Why: Prime the AI with codebase knowledge before planning anything new.

Prompt 2: Explore options

I want to build [feature description].
Explore our options for how we can build this, do any necessary research.

Report back the options in this format:
Option:
Description:
Tradeoffs:
Effort:

Why: Get multiple approaches before committing to one.

Prompt 3: Refine the approach

What libraries/technologies would we need?
What else do we need to think about during this implementation?
I'm leaning toward option #X because [reason].

Why: Narrow down the approach, surface unknowns.

Prompt 4: Add constraints

We also need to ensure [constraint].
[Specific requirement about security, platform support, etc.]

Why: Add guardrails before the plan is written.

Prompt 5: Create the structured plan

Based on all the research we just did, create an implementation plan
in a file called requests/{feature}-plan.md.

Use the template in templates/STRUCTURED-PLAN-TEMPLATE.md.

Include all relevant information from our research so the coding agent
can reliably build the entire feature end to end including tests.

Why: Transition from vibe planning to structured plan. The AI writes the plan using the conversation as context.

Tips

  • You don’t have to use all 5 prompts. Sometimes 2-3 are enough.
  • Speak naturally. Use voice-to-text if it helps (AquaVoice, Open Whisper).
  • The vibe planning conversation IS the Memory pillar of Context Engineering.
  • Review the structured plan yourself before moving to implementation.
  • Verify context loading: Ask the AI “Let me know what context you already have in this conversation” to confirm it loaded all on-demand context you expected.
  • After execution: Ask for “a concise summary of what was implemented and advice for how I can run everything, including any environment changes needed after this feature.”
  • Speed up on similar features: Once trust is established and you’re building something similar to a previous feature, you can skip vibe planning and go straight to /planning. Only do this after 10+ successful manual runs.
  • Do most research in vibe planning, not in the planning command. Vibe planning is where you ask questions, explore options, and get on the same page. The planning command handles structured research to fill the template.

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