home / skills / mcouthon / agents / phase-review

phase-review skill

safe

This skill reviews phase implementation plans for flaws without altering the plan, offering suggestions for improvements.

npx playbooks add skill mcouthon/agents --skill phase-review

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (1)

SKILL.md

864 B

---
name: phase-review
description: "Review implementation plans for a particular phase in a larger plan for flaws before committing to them. Use when reviewing phase plans from .tasks/ directory. Triggers on: 'use phase mode', 'review phase', 'review the plan', 'check phase', 'validate phase', 'review phase N', 'check the plan for phase'."
allowed-tools: [Read, Grep, Glob, Edit, LSP]
---

# Phase Plan Review

Go over the plan for the provided phase in the linked task, and make sure it doesn't have any flaws in it. Make suggestions if you think there are changes you'd consider making (keep the full context for the task in mind).

**Do NOT modify plan files in the `plan/` directory.** Your suggestions will be returned to the orchestrating agent, which will present them to the user for adoption or rejection.

Write your review findings as your response.

Overview

This skill reviews implementation plans for a single phase inside a larger task and flags flaws, gaps, and risky assumptions before execution. It returns actionable suggestions and clear findings for the orchestrating agent to present to the user. It does not edit plan files but instructs the orchestrator on status updates and notes to record.

How this skill works

Given a phase plan from the .tasks/ directory, the skill reads the plan context and checks for missing steps, unclear acceptance criteria, hidden dependencies, and unrealistic time estimates. It compares the phase tasks to the overall task context to ensure alignment and detects potential regressions or security and deployment risks. The skill outputs a concise review, prioritized recommendations, and a single status change instruction for the task.md file.

When to use it

Before committing a phase to execution
When a phase plan is newly authored or modified
When verifying correctness against overall project context
When release windows, security, or infra constraints matter
When acceptance criteria or testing steps seem vague

Best practices

Preserve the original plan file; provide suggestions separately
Confirm the overall task context before recommending removals
Prioritize safety, testability, and rollback options in recommendations
Call out missing acceptance criteria and measurable success signals
Recommend small, testable increments rather than large risky changes

Example use cases

Review a development phase for missing unit/integration tests and rollout steps
Validate a deployment phase for missing rollback or monitoring hooks
Check a migration phase for data integrity and backward-compatibility assumptions
Verify time estimates and concurrent dependency coordination before scheduling

FAQ

Do you modify plan files directly?

No. I only produce review findings. I instruct the orchestrator to update the phase status in task.md to Reviewed and to add notes if relevant.

What format do you return suggestions in?

I return a concise, prioritized list of findings and suggested changes. Each item explains the issue, its impact, and a recommended fix or mitigation step.