--- title: "Superpowers Writing Plans: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/skills/obra-writing-plans/ description: "Turns an agreed specification into file-specific implementation tasks with verification steps and a structured plan review." --- # Superpowers Writing Plans: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai > Turns an agreed specification into file-specific implementation tasks with verification steps and a structured plan review. [← Explore all skills](/skills/) RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION / Jesse Vincent / Superpowers # Superpowers Writing Plans Turns an agreed specification into file-specific implementation tasks with verification steps and a structured plan review. See setup guidance ↓Original source ↗ SOURCE REVIEW Reviewed 2026-09-21 Evidence 7 linked sources Publisher Jesse Vincent / Superpowers Licence MIT ↗ Revision 5bf4e7801107 Read what was—and wasn’t—checked ↓ “Use when you have a spec or requirements for a multi-step task, before touching code” Jesse Vincent / Superpowers · upstream description ↗ Our analysis follows below. 01 / THE REASONING ## Why this made the selection. - Makes each task name concrete files, expected behavior and meaningful failing/passing checks rather than leaving implementation placeholders. - Adds a review prompt that looks for missing input classes, unclear ownership and gaps between the specification and planned tests. ### A good fit for - Preparing a bounded implementation handoff - Reviewing whether a proposed change has enough test and ownership detail before coding ### Weigh up before choosing - Detailed code in a plan can become stale as the repository changes; planned checks are not evidence that tests have run. - Execution handoff refers to other Superpowers skills. Commit cadence and approval gates need to follow the project and user’s actual workflow. - The review-focus instructions mix identifying uncovered cases with adding tests for them. Keep the final risk list consistent with the planned tests; a self-review pass is not an execution gate. 02 / THE REVIEW RECORD ## What we actually inspected. Source review has boundaries. A clear record is more useful than a “safe” badge. ### Material inspected - skills/writing-plans/SKILL.md - skills/writing-plans/plan-document-reviewer-prompt.md - README.md (installation, compatibility and licence sections) - LICENSE ### Our findings - Both the skill and its plan-document-reviewer prompt were inspected. Review targets substantive omissions instead of stylistic nitpicks. - The workflow preserves the user’s chosen execution approach and keeps plan review separate from implementation. ### Not established by this review - No implementation plan was generated or executed. - The optional reviewer and execution skills were not run. The review applies to the material and revision named here. A newer upstream release can change its behavior. 03 / PUT IT TO WORK ## Add a skill to your workflow. Upstream setup instructions ↗ DOCUMENTED COMMAND npx skills add https://github.com/obra/superpowers/tree/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/skills/writing-plans Copy command ↗ Copying does not execute this command. It may retrieve a newer version than the reviewed source. - Install the complete writing-plans directory, including its reviewer prompt. - Use the publisher’s full suite or separately install the execution skill you intend to use; a plan alone does not execute work. - Choose the intended host and project scope in the installer. The source revision is pinned; the installer itself is not executed or version-pinned by this review. ### Before you start - Node.js/npm and git for the documented Skills installer - An agreed specification file and current repository context; write down informal requirements before using the required spec-linked plan format - The named Superpowers execution skills if using its handoff flow; subagent support for delegated review ### Compatibility Claude Code · Codex ### Repository planning and review - Read source and specifications - Write plan documents - Optional delegated plan review; later commits or implementation require the chosen authorized workflow ### Cost model MIT-licensed instructions; planning and review use the consuming agent or API. 04 / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE ## The source trail. Our notes are separate from the original resource. Check upstream before adopting a new version. - Skill definition at reviewed revision ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/skills/writing-plans/SKILL.md Supports: summary, upstreamDescription, whySelected, bestFor, limitations, review, access - Reviewed reference or helper: plan-document-reviewer-prompt.md ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/skills/writing-plans/plan-document-reviewer-prompt.md Supports: review, limitations, install, access - Publisher installation, compatibility and licensing guidance ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/README.md Supports: install, compatibility, access, license - Upstream licence at reviewed revision ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/LICENSE Supports: license, access.cost - Skills installer: source formats and repeated skill selection ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/7407f3893ad4dceab546ac002c3ef806e4000c73/README.md Supports: install - Skills installer: full commit SHA checkout support ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/7407f3893ad4dceab546ac002c3ef806e4000c73/src/git.ts Supports: install - Skills installer: tree revision and subdirectory parsing ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/7407f3893ad4dceab546ac002c3ef806e4000c73/src/source-parser.ts Supports: install KEEP COMPARING ## Other approaches to consider. Related by category or shared topics. These are alternatives to inspect, not a measured quality order. [### Anthropic Documentation Coauthoring ↗ Guides a human and agent through audience discovery, section-by-section drafting and a separate-reader review of a substantial document.](/skills/anthropics-doc-coauthoring/)[### Matt Pocock Domain Modeling ↗ Builds a project glossary and short architecture decision records while testing domain terms against code and concrete edge cases.](/skills/mattpocock-domain-modeling/)[### Matt Pocock Grilling ↗ Interviews the user through dependency-ordered decisions before the agent acts on a plan or idea.](/skills/mattpocock-grilling/) [AI Tools ↗](/tools/)[Skills ↗](/skills/)[Agents ↗](/agents/)[MCP Servers ↗](/mcp-servers/)