Plan

Canonify: Plan

The Plan gate of Canonify - the first of three lifecycle gates, all routing through CANONIFY.md. It reads the breadth manifest so the plan is grounded in what the codebase already contains, at a high level, before any architecture is committed.

The three gates are different altitudes, run in order:

• Plan (this skill, /canonify:plan): the whole landscape -> read every CANONIFY.md summary line -> triage the idea into "what already exists I can reuse" vs. "what's net-new." Breadth. No sub-docs opened. Raises plan quality (architecture).
• Build (/canonify:build): a concrete task -> route to the implicated docs -> load them in full -> canonical pattern + file:line refs. Depth on a slice. Raises implementation fidelity.
• Commit (/canonify:commit): the diff -> route to the same docs -> audit the code against their rules. Raises correctness at the gate.

The Plan gate exists because Build's routing is only as good as the task framing - if the planner doesn't know a capability exists, the task won't mention it, and the route never fires. Plan removes that dependency: it puts the full menu in front of the plan first, so the architecture reuses what's there (an existing service / client / helper / subsystem the idea can stand on) instead of reinventing it.

How to run

1. Read CANONIFY.md at the repo root, in full. It is the complete breadth map - one one-line summary per canon across every category the project defines for itself (CANONIFY.md declares its own category structure; each category points at a block of docs under docs/). Read every summary line; the point of the Plan gate is total coverage of the landscape, not a slice. (CANONIFY.md is authoritative - you should not need to open the per-category INDEX.md files to get breadth.)

2. Read the idea. It is allowed to be fuzzy - that is what this skill is for. If there is no idea stated at all, ask for one or two sentences of intent ("what are we thinking about building?") before continuing. Don't invent one.

3. Stay at summary altitude - do NOT open any docs/ sub-doc. Opening and deep-reading the implicated docs is Build's job, once the task firms up. Plan works only from the one-paragraph summaries in CANONIFY.md. Loading sub-docs here wastes context on a still-fuzzy idea.

4. Cross-reference project memory, if any. If the project carries a memory file (e.g. MEMORY.md) of in-flight and planned work, it is the other half of orientation - it tells you what overlaps, what's already underway, and what constraints are live. Note any project the idea touches or duplicates. Skip this step if no such memory exists.

5. Produce a reuse-vs-build triage. A few short groupings:

   • Lean on (already exists): the existing services / data patterns / subsystems the idea can stand on, named one line each, drawn from the CANONIFY.md summaries.
   • Net-new: the parts no existing doc or pattern covers - the genuinely new work.
   • Overlaps in flight: any active/planned project from memory that intersects the idea.
   • Build will likely need: name (don't open) the handful of docs Build will route to once the task is concrete. This is a loose pointer, not a routing decision.

6. Hand off. Plan ends when the idea is oriented. When it firms into a concrete task, run /canonify:build to route to the specific docs and load the canonical pattern. Plan does not plan and does not write code.

Don't do

• Don't open sub-docs. Summary altitude only. The moment you open any doc under docs/, you've crossed into Build.
• Don't produce an Implicated / Skipped routing table. That precise sweep is Build's deliverable. Plan names likely docs loosely and moves on - it doesn't commit a route.
• Don't write a plan or code. This is orientation. Planning and implementation come after, post-handoff.
• Don't skip the memory cross-check (when the project has a memory file). In-flight projects are half the picture; the code summaries are the other half.
• Don't replace Build or Commit. Plan precedes them. It is additive - orient, then route, then audit.

Output template

## /canonify:plan - landscape orientation

Idea: <one-line restatement of the fuzzy idea / area we're scoping>

### Lean on (already exists)
- <subsystem/service> - <one line: what it gives the idea, from the CANONIFY.md summary>
- <subsystem/service> - <one line>

### Net-new (no existing pattern)
- <area> - <one line: why nothing in the docs covers it>

### Overlaps in flight (from memory)
- <project> - <one line: how it intersects / whether it duplicates>

### Build will likely route to (not loaded yet)
- <doc-a.md>, <doc-b.md>, <doc-c.md>

Oriented. When the task firms up, run /canonify:build to route and load the canonical patterns.