/whats-the-plan
Declare the chain of skills you intend to run for the current task or next stretch of work. Invokable at any natural response point. Composes with /temperance (scope) and /sprint (ticket-level) — dispatch-path level.
/whats-the-planType it bare, or paste it with loose context after — Claude figures out the rest.
Multi-skill chains dispatch without declaring the plan. Operator can't audit mid-flight.
Declares the chain of skills you intend to run. Invokable before you start.
Takes in
- Current task or scope description
Returns
- Ordered skill chain
- Rationale per step
- Alternative chains
What it does
Declare the sequence of skills, tool calls, and artifacts you intend to produce for the current task. Stated before execution, not retrospectively. Re-declared when the plan changes materially.
work involves ≥3 skills OR touches production code OR spans ≥1 hour. This is the analogue of /temperance firing on the first edit — but for sequencing, not scope
Read the full skill
The complete instructions live at .claude/skills/whats-the-plan/SKILL.md in your repo after bassclef-sync. Open with your editor for phases, rules, and worked examples.
Where in the SDLC
Also relevant in: Concept.
Why this phase: Declare the chain of skills you intend to run for the current task or next stretch of work. Composes with /temperance (scope) and /sprint (ticket-level) — dispatch-path level.
Related
- Skills catalog — browse all skills grouped by lifecycle phase
- Tier system — what each tier gives you
FAQ
Terms from bassclef vocabulary that appear on this page.
- load-bearing
- A part of the system that other parts depend on — remove it and downstream things break. Bassclef uses the word for artifacts that other artifacts read: a canvas is load-bearing when a spec cites it, a spec is load-bearing when Builder uses it. Plain equivalent: 'actually used' or 'counted on'.
- temperance
- The pause-and-think gate that fires before any non-trivial work. Two questions — am I building the right thing AND am I building it the right way? Bassclef enforces it with a pre-build hook that BLOCKs edits until a temperance marker exists on the branch. See: /docs/skills/temperance
- chronicle
- A narrative log of what a session shipped — what worked, what did not, what got deferred. Written at session-end. Bassclef's chronicles live under `docs/chronicles/YYYY-MM-DD-slug.md`. Chronicles are how future sessions understand context that the code alone cannot show. See: /docs/skills/session-log
- hook
- A shell script bassclef wires into Claude Code's tool-invocation lifecycle. Hooks fire at events like PreToolUse (before an Edit lands) or SessionStart (when a session opens). Hooks enforce rules mechanically — a rule says 'don't do X'; a hook fires and BLOCKs if X happens.
- rule
- A markdown file auto-loaded into every session's context. Rules pin discipline the agent applies to every response (plain-English writing, blocked-items protocol, temperance gates). Different from a hook — rules are steering; hooks are enforcement.
- skill
- A user-invocable command (like `/kiss` or `/temperance`) that runs a specific bassclef workflow. Every skill lives at `.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md` with frontmatter + procedure. Adopters type the slash command; Claude Code loads the skill and runs it.
Shipped by @kingofrock · Read the essays
/sprint
Show what's in flight and what's next. Reads project state, open issues, and the active goal. Proposes the next sprint at thread level, not just the nearest leaf. Run at session start.
/whereami
Show project state in one glance — phase, active goal, agents in flight, subsystem progress, gate checklist, freshness. Reads docs/whereami.md. Run at session start before /sprint to orient.