Planning With Files

Planning with Files

Work like Manus: Use persistent markdown files as your "working memory on disk."

Important: Where Files Go

• Templates are in this skill's templates/ folder
• Your planning files go in your project directory

| Location | What Goes There | |----------|-----------------| | Skill directory | Templates, scripts, reference docs | | Your project directory | task_plan.md, findings.md, progress.md |

Quick Start

Before ANY complex task:

> Note: Run helper scripts with sh or bash to avoid execute-permission issues.

1. Clear or create TASK_PROGRESS.md — Reset file for the new user request
2. Create task_plan.md — Use [templates/taskplan.md](templates/taskplan.md) as reference
3. Create findings.md — Use [templates/findings.md](templates/findings.md) as reference
4. Create progress.md — Use [templates/progress.md](templates/progress.md) as reference
5. Re-read plan before decisions — Refreshes goals in attention window
6. Update after each phase — Mark complete, log errors

> Note: Planning files go in your project root, not the skill installation folder.

TASK_PROGRESS.md Output (Human-Readable Only)

• Location: Project root.
• Reset rule: Before creating a new task plan for each user request, clear or create TASK_PROGRESS.md.
• When to write: Append a plain-language summary of the task plan (goal and main steps) when a plan is created, during progress updates, and on completion or exception.
• Language: Use the current user request language. If mixed, use the dominant language. If undetectable, use English.
• Audience: Non-technical users in AIGC design contexts; clear and plain wording.
• Content limits: Do not include commands, tools/skills, environment variables, secrets, file paths, code, or technical error causes.
• Errors: If an exception happens, write that an internal error occurred without details. If the error occurred before any progress entry, attempt to write the error summary again.
• Subtasks: If there are multiple subtasks, you may say "item N of M" in natural language.
• Format: Markdown file, and content must be natural language only (no technical details).
• Task plan sync: When a new task_plan.md is created, append a markdown summary of the task goal and the main phases in the user's language.
• Findings sync: When findings.md is updated, append a markdown summary of the new findings in the user's language.
• Detail level: Provide fuller progress context (what is done, what is in progress, what is next) while staying non-technical.
• Completion tone: When marking a task as complete in TASK_PROGRESS.md, append 1-2 celebratory emojis.

The Core Pattern

Context Window = RAM (volatile, limited)
Filesystem = Disk (persistent, unlimited)

→ Anything important gets written to disk.

File Purposes

| File | Purpose | When to Update | |------|---------|----------------| | task_plan.md | Phases, progress, decisions | After each phase | | findings.md | Research, discoveries | After ANY discovery | | progress.md | Session log, test results | Throughout session |

Critical Rules

0. Reset TASK_PROGRESS.md Per Request

Before creating a new plan, clear or create TASK_PROGRESS.md for the current user request.

0.1 Sync Plan and Findings

When task_plan.md or findings.md changes, append a clear, markdown-formatted, non-technical summary to TASK_PROGRESS.md in the user's language.

1. Create Plan First

Never start a complex task without task_plan.md. Non-negotiable.

2. The 2-Action Rule

> "After every 2 view/browser/search operations, IMMEDIATELY save key findings to text files."

This prevents visual/multimodal information from being lost.

3. Read Before Decide

Before major decisions, read the plan file. This keeps goals in your attention window.

4. Update After Act

After completing any phase:

• Mark phase status: in_progress → complete
• Log any errors encountered
• Note files created/modified

5. Log ALL Errors

Every error goes in the plan file. This builds knowledge and prevents repetition.

## Errors Encountered
| Error | Attempt | Resolution |
|-------|---------|------------|
| FileNotFoundError | 1 | Created default config |
| API timeout | 2 | Added retry logic |

6. Never Repeat Failures

if action_failed:
    next_action != same_action

Track what you tried. Mutate the approach.

The 3-Strike Error Protocol

ATTEMPT 1: Diagnose & Fix
  → Read error carefully
  → Identify root cause
  → Apply targeted fix

ATTEMPT 2: Alternative Approach
  → Same error? Try different method
  → Different tool? Different library?
  → NEVER repeat exact same failing action

ATTEMPT 3: Broader Rethink
  → Question assumptions
  → Search for solutions
  → Consider updating the plan

AFTER 3 FAILURES: Escalate to User
  → Explain what you tried
  → Share the specific error
  → Ask for guidance

Read vs Write Decision Matrix

| Situation | Action | Reason | |-----------|--------|--------| | Just wrote a file | DON'T read | Content still in context | | Viewed image/PDF | Write findings NOW | Multimodal → text before lost | | Browser returned data | Write to file | Screenshots don't persist | | Starting new phase | Read plan/findings | Re-orient if context stale | | Error occurred | Read relevant file | Need current state to fix | | Resuming after gap | Read all planning files | Recover state |

The 5-Question Reboot Test

If you can answer these, your context management is solid:

| Question | Answer Source | |----------|---------------| | Where am I? | Current phase in task_plan.md | | Where am I going? | Remaining phases | | What's the goal? | Goal statement in plan | | What have I learned? | findings.md | | What have I done? | progress.md |

When to Use This Pattern

Use for:

• Multi-step tasks (3+ steps)
• Research tasks
• Building/creating projects
• Tasks spanning many tool calls
• Anything requiring organization

Skip for:

• Simple questions
• Single-file edits
• Quick lookups

Templates

Copy these templates to start:

• [templates/taskplan.md](templates/taskplan.md) — Phase tracking
• [templates/findings.md](templates/findings.md) — Research storage
• [templates/progress.md](templates/progress.md) — Session logging

Scripts

Helper scripts for automation:

• scripts/init-session.sh — Initialize all planning files (run with sh/bash)
• scripts/check-complete.sh — Verify all phases complete (run with sh/bash)

Examples:

sh scripts/init-session.sh

bash scripts/check-complete.sh

Advanced Topics

• Manus Principles: See [references/reference.md](references/reference.md)
• Real Examples: See [references/examples.md](references/examples.md)

Anti-Patterns

| Don't | Do Instead | |-------|------------| | Use TodoWrite for persistence | Create task_plan.md file | | State goals once and forget | Re-read plan before decisions | | Hide errors and retry silently | Log errors to plan file | | Stuff everything in context | Store large content in files | | Start executing immediately | Create plan file FIRST | | Repeat failed actions | Track attempts, mutate approach | | Create files in skill directory | Create files in your project |

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: jovijovi
• Source: jovijovi/skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.