Work like Manus: Use persistent markdown files as your "working memory on disk."

Planning with Files Work like Manus: Use persistent markdown files as your "working memory on disk." Important: Where Files Go When using this skill: Templates are stored in the skill directory at ${CLAUDE PLUGIN ROOT}/templates/ Your planning files ( task plan.md , findings.md , progress.md ) should be created in your project directory — the folder where you're working Location What Goes There Skill directory ( ${CLAUDE PLUGIN ROOT}/ ) Templates, scripts, reference docs Your project directory task plan.md , findings.md , progress.md This ensures your planning files live alongside your code, not buried in the skill installation folder. Quick Start For an authorized complex task, reuse its existing plan/state or create these files only if appropriate: 1. Create task plan.md in your project — Use [templates/task plan.md](templates/task plan.md) as reference 2. Create findings.md in your project — Use [templates/findings.md](templates/findings.md) as reference 3. Create progress.md in your project — Use [templates/progress.md](templates/progress.md) as reference 4. Re read plan before decisions — Refreshes goals in attention window 5. Update after each phase — Mark complete, log errors Note: All three planning files should be created in your current working directory (your project root), not in the skill's installation folder. Storage boundaries Use the actual installed skill directory; CLAUDE PLUGIN ROOT is client specific and may be unset. Keep private planning files in an authorized location, prevent symlink/path escapes, avoid overwriting existing files, and do not commit/publish them automatically. Scripts are optional reviewed helpers, not installed hooks; the completion checker supports the bundled phase heading/status template, not arbitrary checklists, and cannot establish task success. Bounded retries can be valid for transient errors; escalate only real unresolved decisions, not mechanically after three attempts. The Core Pattern File Purposes File Purpose When to Update task plan.md Phases, progress, decisions After each phase findings.md Research, discoveries After ANY discovery progress.md Session log, test results Throughout session Critical Rules 1. Create Plan First Use existing project planning conventions and user supplied plans. Do not create competing state files or edit an attached plan when the user requests otherwise. 2. The 2 Action Rule "After every 2 view/browser/search operations, IMMEDIATELY save key findings to text files." This prevents visual/multimodal information from being lost. 3. Read Before Decide Before major decisions, read the plan file. This keeps goals in your attention window. 4. Update After Act After completing any phase: Mark phase status: in progress → complete Log any errors encountered Note files created/modified 5. Log ALL Errors Every error goes in the plan file. This builds knowledge and prevents repetition. 6. Never Repeat Failures Track what you tried. Mutate the approach. The 3 Strike Error Protocol Read vs Write Decision Matrix Situation Action Reason Just wrote a file Verify when correctness requires it Writes can fail or alter formatting Viewed image/PDF Write findings NOW Multimodal → text before lost Browser returned data Write to file Screenshots don't persist Starting new phase Read plan/findings Re orient if context stale Error occurred Read relevant file Need current state to fix Resuming after gap Read all planning files Recover state The 5 Question Reboot Test If you can answer these, your context management is solid: Question Answer Source Where am I? Current phase in task plan.md Where am I going? Remaining phases What's the goal? Goal statement in plan What have I learned? findings.md What have I done? progress.md When to Use This Pattern Use for: Multi step tasks (3+ steps) Research tasks Building/creating projects Tasks spanning many tool calls Anything requiring organization Skip for: Simple questions Single file edits Quick lookups Templates Copy these templates to start: [templates/task plan.md](templates/task plan.md) — Phase tracking [templates/findings.md](templates/findings.md) — Research storage [templates/progress.md](templates/progress.md) — Session logging Scripts Helper scripts for automation: scripts/init session.sh — Initialize all planning files scripts/check complete.sh — Verify all phases complete Advanced Topics Manus Principles: See [reference.md](reference.md) Real Examples: See [examples.md](examples.md) Anti Patterns Don't Do Instead Use TodoWrite for persistence Create task plan.md file State goals once and forget Re read plan before decisions Hide errors and retry silently Log errors to plan file Stuff everything in context Store large content in files Start executing immediately Create plan file FIRST Repeat failed actions Track attempts, mutate approach Create files in skill directory Create files in your project Limitations Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above. Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment specific validation, testing, or expert review. Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.

planning-with-files