create-implementation-plan Skill for Claude Code: Write a Structured Plan File

Skill that makes your assistant write a structured, machine-readable implementation plan file for a feature, refactor or upgrade.

Installs: 12.6K; on skills.sh
Stars: 40.7K; on GitHub
Updated: Oct 2026; last repo commit

Name a feature, refactor or package upgrade and the assistant writes a plan file with front matter, numbered requirements, phased tasks, alternatives, dependencies, files, tests and risks. The plan is built for AI agents or humans to execute without further interpretation.

Plans go in a /plan/ folder with names like feature-auth-module-1.md. After writing, the assistant runs shell checks so each requirement, task and goal ID is declared once. It is one file and bundles no scripts.

Good for

Developers who want a written plan before an AI agent starts coding
Teams handing implementation to another agent or a teammate
Anyone planning a refactor, package upgrade or infrastructure change

Install create-implementation-plan

Claude Code

Copy this prompt.

Install the create-implementation-plan skill in Claude Code. Run this command:

npx skills add https://github.com/github/awesome-copilot --skill create-implementation-plan

Then check that it loaded and tell me how to use it.

2
Paste it into Claude Code. It shows the change and asks before running it.

Requires Node.js.

From its listing on skills.sh. Source.

What's in the skill

When it loads

Create a new implementation plan file for new features, refactoring existing code or upgrading packages, design, architecture or infrastructure.

Sections in SKILL.md

Primary Directive
Execution Context
Core Requirements
Plan Structure Requirements
Phase Architecture
AI-Optimized Implementation Standards
Output File Specifications
Mandatory Template Structure
Template Validation Rules
Identifier Uniqueness Check
Status
1. Requirements & Constraints
2. Implementation Steps
Implementation Phase 1
Implementation Phase 2
3. Alternatives

Key facts

Author: GitHub community collection (awesome-copilot, described in its README as community-created)
License: MIT (crawl data)
Installs on skills.sh: 12,588 as of 2026-11-02
GitHub stars: 40,666 for the whole github/awesome-copilot repo, 2026-11-02
Last repo commit: 2026-10-30
Files: 1 file: SKILL.md; no scripts

What it includes

Saves the plan in /plan/ as [purpose]-[component]-[version].md with front matter.
Purpose prefixes include upgrade, refactor, feature, data, infrastructure, process, architecture and design.
Write · Plan file output
Eight sections, from Requirements & Constraints to Related Specifications.
Write · Template sections
Phases with a GOAL and a table of TASK rows, each with a completed mark and date.
Write · Phases and tasks
REQ, SEC, CON, GUD, PAT, GOAL, TASK, ALT, DEP, FILE, TEST, RISK and ASSUMPTION.
Write · Identifier prefixes
Three grep checks for IDs declared twice; renumbers until the first two are empty.
Runs grep, sed, sort and uniq on the plan file.
Runs code · Identifier uniqueness check
Sets one of Completed, In progress, Planned, Deprecated or On Hold.
Write · Status badge

From the official docs

Permissions

Low risk

It writes a Markdown plan file and runs three small shell checks on it. Look at where the /plan/ folder is created.

What it can do

Read your data
Create and change things
Delete things
Read-only mode

Watch out for

It writes plan files to a /plan/ directory
SKILL.md says to save plans in /plan/ using the name pattern [purpose]-[component]-[version].md. Check where that folder lands in your project. github.com
It runs shell checks on the plan
The identifier check uses grep, sed, sort and uniq on the plan file only. SKILL.md asks the agent to renumber duplicates and re-run until the output is empty. github.com

Technical details

Scopes	Writes a plan file into a /plan/ directory Runs grep, sed, sort and uniq on that plan file to check identifiers

Questions

What does the create-implementation-plan skill do?

It makes your assistant write a structured implementation plan file for a feature, refactor, package upgrade, design, architecture or infrastructure change. The plan follows a fixed template.

How do I install it?

Use the install box at the top of this page. The skill is one Markdown file. The repo README also documents a plugin route built for GitHub Copilot CLI: copilot plugin install project-planning@awesome-copilot. That plugin adds 7 agents and 8 skills, so use the box above if you only want this one.

Where does the plan go?

SKILL.md says to save it in a /plan/ directory, named [purpose]-[component]-[version].md, for example feature-auth-module-1.md.

Is it safe?

It writes a Markdown plan file and runs grep, sed, sort and uniq on that file. It bundles no scripts. Check where the /plan/ folder is created before you commit.

Does it need an API key?

No key or service is named in SKILL.md.

Does it write the code too?

No. SKILL.md is about creating the plan file. Its instructions describe plans that AI agents or humans can then execute.

Information

updated Nov 2, 2026

Repository: github/awesome-copilot
Folder: skills/create-implementation-plan

github/awesome-copilot skills.sh

Sources

Docs, issue trackers and discussions this page is built from.

Show all 3

SKILL.md · github.com
README.md · github.com
project-planning plugin.json · github.com