Executing Plans

Use when you have a written implementation plan to execute in a separate session with review checkpoints

Published by @Jesse Vincent·from obra/superpowers·0 agent reads / 30d·0 saves·

Executing Plans

Overview

Load plan, review critically, execute all tasks, report when complete.

Announce at start: "I'm using the executing-plans skill to implement this plan."

Note: Tell your human partner that Superpowers works much better with access to subagents. The quality of its work will be significantly higher if run on a platform with subagent support (such as Claude Code or Codex). If subagents are available, use superpowers:subagent-driven-development instead of this skill.

The Process

Step 1: Load and Review Plan

  1. Read plan file
  2. Review critically - identify any questions or concerns about the plan
  3. If concerns: Raise them with your human partner before starting
  4. If no concerns: Create TodoWrite and proceed

Step 2: Execute Tasks

For each task:

  1. Mark as in_progress
  2. Follow each step exactly (plan has bite-sized steps)
  3. Run verifications as specified
  4. Mark as completed

Step 3: Complete Development

After all tasks complete and verified:

  • Announce: "I'm using the finishing-a-development-branch skill to complete this work."
  • REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch
  • Follow that skill to verify tests, present options, execute choice

When to Stop and Ask for Help

STOP executing immediately when:

  • Hit a blocker (missing dependency, test fails, instruction unclear)
  • Plan has critical gaps preventing starting
  • You don't understand an instruction
  • Verification fails repeatedly

Ask for clarification rather than guessing.

When to Revisit Earlier Steps

Return to Review (Step 1) when:

  • Partner updates the plan based on your feedback
  • Fundamental approach needs rethinking

Don't force through blockers - stop and ask.

Remember

  • Review plan critically first
  • Follow plan steps exactly
  • Don't skip verifications
  • Reference skills when plan says to
  • Stop when blocked, don't guess
  • Never start implementation on main/master branch without explicit user consent

Integration

Required workflow skills:

  • superpowers:using-git-worktrees - Ensures isolated workspace (creates one or verifies existing)
  • superpowers:writing-plans - Creates the plan this skill executes
  • superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch - Complete development after all tasks

Bundled with this artifact

2 files

Reference files that ship alongside this artifact. Agents pull these in only when the task needs them.

More on the bench

SKILL0

Skill Creator

Create new skills, modify and improve existing skills, and measure skill performance. Use when users want to create a skill from scratch, edit, or optimize an existing skill, run evals to test a skill, benchmark skill performance with variance analysis, or optimize a skill's description for better triggering accuracy.

ai-prompt-engineering+1
6
SKILL0

Bash Pro

Master of defensive Bash scripting for production automation, CI/CD pipelines, and system utilities. Expert in safe, portable, and testable shell scripts.

ai-prompt-engineering+3
4
SKILL0

Security Compliance Compliance Check

You are a compliance expert specializing in regulatory requirements for software systems including GDPR, HIPAA, SOC2, PCI-DSS, and other industry standards. Perform comprehensive compliance audits and provide implementation guidance for achieving and maintaining compliance.

ai-prompt-engineering+3
3