superpowers-writing-plans

What This Skill Does

The superpowers-writing-plans skill is a critical developer-tool designed to transition from ambiguous feature requirements to concrete, actionable code implementation plans. It enforces a rigorous discipline centered on Test-Driven Development (TDD), DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself), and YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It) principles. When activated, this skill guides the OpenClaw agent to decompose high-level specifications into bite-sized, 2-to-5 minute execution tasks. It ensures that every instruction provided to the developer or sub-agent is precise, containing actual code blocks for tests, implementations, and git commands, effectively eliminating ambiguity and the risk of 'todo' placeholder syndrome.

Installation

To install this skill, run the following command in your terminal within the OpenClaw environment: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/axelhu/superpowers-writing-plans

Use Cases

This skill is perfect for:

1. Building complex features that require careful architecture before writing any production code.
2. Onboarding team members or AI agents who lack deep context regarding your existing codebase.
3. Ensuring consistent testing coverage through mandatory TDD cycles for every single functional component.
4. Managing large-scale refactors by breaking them into manageable, verifiable incremental changes.

Example Prompts

1. "I have a spec document for a new user authentication module in docs/specs/auth.md. Please use superpowers-writing-plans to create an implementation plan so we can start building it."
2. "We need to integrate a new payment gateway. Can you generate a comprehensive plan using superpowers-writing-plans that follows our TDD standards and separates concerns into small, commit-ready tasks?"
3. "The current logging system is too messy. Use superpowers-writing-plans to outline a migration plan that modularizes the logging logic without breaking the existing interface."

Tips & Limitations

• No Placeholders: The primary strength of this skill is its absolute rejection of vague instructions. If you find a 'TODO' in your plan, use the skill's self-review feature to force an explicit definition.
• Scope Management: If a specification covers multiple distinct subsystems, use the brainstorming capability first to split the work, then run this skill once per subsystem to maintain clean file boundaries.
• Verification: Always verify that every file path defined in the task structure matches the actual project structure. The success of the sub-agent execution depends entirely on the accuracy of the file mappings you provide in the plan.
• Branching: Always use the recommended Git workflow: create a dedicated feature branch for your implementation to keep the main codebase clean during development.