Planning with Files

Work like Manus — the AI agent company Meta acquired for $2 billion.

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A Claude Code plugin that transforms your workflow to use persistent markdown files for planning, progress tracking, and knowledge storage — the exact pattern that made Manus worth billions.

Quick Install

In Claude Code, run:

/plugin marketplace add OthmanAdi/planning-with-files
/plugin install planning-with-files@planning-with-files

That's it! Now use one of these commands in Claude Code:

Alternative: If you want /planning-with-files (without prefix), copy skills to your local folder:

macOS/Linux:

cp -r ~/.claude/plugins/cache/planning-with-files/planning-with-files/*/skills/planning-with-files ~/.claude/skills/

Windows (PowerShell):

Copy-Item -Recurse -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\plugins\cache\planning-with-files\planning-with-files\*\skills\planning-with-files" -Destination "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills\"

See docs/installation.md for all installation methods.

Why This Skill?

On December 29, 2025, Meta acquired Manus for $2 billion. In just 8 months, Manus went from launch to $100M+ revenue. Their secret? Context engineering.

"Markdown is my 'working memory' on disk. Since I process information iteratively and my active context has limits, Markdown files serve as scratch pads for notes, checkpoints for progress, building blocks for final deliverables." — Manus AI

The Problem

Claude Code (and most AI agents) suffer from:

• Volatile memory — TodoWrite tool disappears on context reset
• Goal drift — After 50+ tool calls, original goals get forgotten
• Hidden errors — Failures aren't tracked, so the same mistakes repeat
• Context stuffing — Everything crammed into context instead of stored

The Solution: 3-File Pattern

For every complex task, create THREE files:

task_plan.md      → Track phases and progress
findings.md       → Store research and findings
progress.md       → Session log and test results

The Core Principle

Context Window = RAM (volatile, limited)
Filesystem = Disk (persistent, unlimited)

→ Anything important gets written to disk.

The Manus Principles

Usage

Once installed, the AI agent will:

1. Ask for your task if no description is provided
2. Create task_plan.md, findings.md, and progress.md in your project directory
3. Re-read plan before major decisions (via PreToolUse hook)
4. Remind you to update status after file writes (via PostToolUse hook)
5. Store findings in findings.md instead of stuffing context
6. Log errors for future reference
7. Verify completion before stopping (via Stop hook)

Invoke with:

• /planning-with-files:plan - Type /plan to find in autocomplete (v2.11.0+)
• /planning-with-files:start - Type /planning to find in autocomplete
• /planning-with-files - Only if you copied skills to ~/.claude/skills/

See docs/quickstart.md for the full 5-step guide.

Key Rules

1. Create Plan First — Never start without task_plan.md
2. The 2-Action Rule — Save findings after every 2 view/browser operations
3. Log ALL Errors — They help avoid repetition
4. Never Repeat Failures — Track attempts, mutate approach

When to Use

Use this pattern for:

• Multi-step tasks (3+ steps)
• Research tasks
• Building/creating projects
• Tasks spanning many tool calls

Skip for:

• Simple questions
• Single-file edits
• Quick lookups

File Structure

planning-with-files/
├── commands/                # Plugin commands
│   ├── plan.md              # /planning-with-files:plan command (v2.11.0+)
│   └── start.md             # /planning-with-files:start command
├── templates/               # Root-level templates (for CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT)
├── scripts/                 # Root-level scripts (for CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT)
├── docs/                    # Documentation
│   ├── installation.md
│   ├── quickstart.md
│   ├── workflow.md
│   ├── troubleshooting.md
│   ├── gemini.md            # Gemini CLI setup
│   ├── cursor.md
│   ├── windows.md
│   ├── kilocode.md
│   ├── codex.md
│   └── opencode.md
├── planning-with-files/     # Plugin skill folder
│   ├── SKILL.md
│   ├── templates/
│   └── scripts/
├── skills/                  # Legacy skill folder
│   └── planning-with-files/
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       ├── examples.md
│       ├── reference.md
│       ├── templates/
│       └── scripts/
│           ├── init-session.sh
│           ├── check-complete.sh
│           ├── init-session.ps1   # Windows PowerShell
│           └── check-complete.ps1 # Windows PowerShell
├── .gemini/                 # Gemini CLI skills
│   └── skills/
│       └── planning-with-files/
├── .codex/                  # Codex IDE skills
│   └── skills/
├── .opencode/               # OpenCode IDE skills
│   └── skills/
├── .claude-plugin/          # Plugin manifest
├── .cursor/                 # Cursor skills + hooks
│   ├── hooks.json           # Hook configuration
│   ├── hooks/               # Hook scripts (bash + PowerShell)
│   └── skills/
├── .kilocode/               # Kilo Code skills
│   └── skills/
├── .openclaw/               # OpenClaw skills
│   └── skills/
├── .adal/                   # AdaL CLI / Sylph AI skills
│   └── skills/
├── .pi/                     # Pi Agent skills
│   └── skills/
│       └── planning-with-files/
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Documentation

Contributors

• @codelyc — OpenCode scripts support

Acknowledgments

• Manus AI — For pioneering context engineering patterns
• Anthropic — For Claude Code, Agent Skills, and the Plugin system
• Lance Martin — For the detailed Manus architecture analysis
• Based on Context Engineering for AI Agents

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Submit a pull request

License

MIT License — feel free to use, modify, and distribute.

Author: Ahmad Othman Ammar Adi

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