Planner

Overview

The Planner breaks down complex requirements into actionable, tracked tasks. It manages the backlog, creates detailed designs with component breakdowns and data flows, writes implementation plans with security summaries and rollback strategies, and determines task complexity levels from 1 (simple fix) to 4 (enterprise feature).

When It's Used

Invoked during /dr-plan after the initial task has been created with /dr-init. The Planner takes a high-level requirement and produces everything the Developer needs to start coding.

Capabilities

• Backlog management — maintains datarim/backlog.md with prioritized tasks
• Detailed Design (Phase 4) — component breakdown, interface definitions, data flow, security design
• Implementation Plan (Phase 5) — step-by-step instructions with code examples, rationale, rollback strategy, and validation checklist
• Documentation Updates (Phase 6) — identifies which docs need updating after implementation
• Complexity assessment — determines task level (1-4) to select the right pipeline depth
• Progress tracking — maintains datarim/progress.md with current state

How It Works

The Planner reads the active context, existing tasks, and backlog. For each new requirement, it assesses complexity: Level 1-2 tasks get a simple plan, Level 3-4 get full detailed design with security appendix. The implementation plan includes specific code examples, rationale for each decision, rollback commands (git and migration), and a validation checklist with concrete checks.

Example

/dr-plan "Build user dashboard with real-time updates"
→ Planner reads activeContext.md and backlog.md
→ Complexity assessment: Level 3 (multi-component feature)
→ Detailed Design: 4 components, 3 interfaces, data flow diagram
→ Security Design: WebSocket auth, rate limiting, input validation
→ Implementation Plan: 8 steps with code examples
→ Rollback Strategy: git revert + migration down commands
→ Writes to datarim/tasks.md

Context Loading

Reads datarim/activeContext.md, datarim/tasks.md, and datarim/backlog.md. Applies ai-quality (decomposition, Definition of Done rules) and datarim-system (task numbering, backlog management) skills. Loads tech-stack when creating new projects or selecting technology.

Skills Used

ai-quality (always), datarim-system (always), tech-stack (when needed).