A skill that documents an implementation plan by turning a Linear issue into an epic and creating sub-issues for each commit-worthy step, enabling a structured, PR-ready workflow.

Are sub-issues assigned or do they have deadlines?

No. Sub-issues inherit the parent’s status and project but do not assign owners or deadlines, keeping scope flexible during planning.

Which tools does impl-plan rely on?

It uses identity to assume the agent, linear-issue-view to fetch issue context, and linear-issue-create to generate the sub-issues under the parent epic.

impl-plan

Scanned

npx machina-cli add skill bryanp/agent-skills/plan --openclaw

Files (1)

SKILL.md

1.1 KB

Write a concise yet precise and detailed implementation plan for the feature, bug fix, etc that is described in the Linear issue provided in context.

Get information about the issue using the linear-issue-view skill.

Rule: Identity

First use the identity skill to assume the identity of the agent.

Rule: Content Style

Write the plan clearly, concisely, and with as much detail as necessary. Keep it as short as possible without losing context. The plan should contain as much detail as needed for a human or future agent to pick it up and build and deliver a working pull-request that meets the specification of the user.

Rule: Break It Down

Plans should be broken into steps. Represent each step of the plan as a sub issue of the given Linear issue, turning the given issue into an epic. Each step of the plan should map to the amount of work done in a single commit.

Create new issues using the linear-issue-create skill with the same status and project as the parent issue. It should not be assigned to an owner or have a deadline.

Source

git clone https://github.com/bryanp/agent-skills/blob/main/code/impl/plan/SKILL.mdView on GitHub

Overview

impl-plan creates an actionable implementation plan from a Linear issue by assuming the agent’s identity, fetching issue context, and decomposing the work into sub-issues that form an epic. Each sub-issue corresponds to a commit-worthy step and is created with the same status and project as the parent, but without owners or deadlines.

How This Skill Works

The skill first assumes the agent’s identity using the identity skill. It then retrieves the target issue with linear-issue-view to capture scope and acceptance criteria. It breaks the issue into concrete steps, turns each step into a sub-issue under the parent (epic), and creates them with linear-issue-create, preserving status and project while omitting owners and deadlines.

When to Use It

When starting work on a feature or bug described in a Linear issue and you need a clear, actionable plan.
When you want to decompose work into granular, commit-sized tasks mapped to sub-issues.
When collaborating across teams and you need distinct sub-issues that flow from a single epic.
When preparing a PR-ready plan with traceable, step-by-step work items.
When you want to preserve project and status continuity while creating tasks without assigning ownership or deadlines.

Quick Start

Step 1: Assume agent identity using the identity skill.
Step 2: Retrieve the target Linear issue with linear-issue-view to capture scope and acceptance criteria.
Step 3: Break the issue into steps and create sub-issues with linear-issue-create, turning the parent into an epic and mapping each step to a commit-ready task (same status/project, no owner/deadline).

Best Practices

Treat the parent Linear issue as an epic and align all sub-issues under it.
Ensure each sub-issue represents a single commit-worthy step with a clear deliverable.
Mirror the parent’s status and project on all sub-issues; do not set owners or deadlines.
Write precise step descriptions that map directly to code changes, tests, or documentation.
Review the generated plan for completeness and ensure traceability to the original issue.

Example Use Cases

Epic: Add OAuth login; sub-issues: implement frontend login button, backend token exchange, session management, unit tests, update docs.
Bug fix: Resolve intermittent API error; sub-issues: add retry logic, telemetry instrumentation, targeted tests, bug report update, deploy check.
Feature: Export data to CSV; sub-issues: backend export endpoint, frontend export button, CSV formatting tests, accessibility review, documentation.
Performance: Optimize database queries; sub-issues: index tuning, query refactor, benchmarking script, caching layer, monitoring dashboards.
CI improvement: Parallelize test suite; sub-issues: config changes, pipeline updates, test sharding, flaky test isolation, release notes.

Frequently Asked Questions

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