Platonic Coding#

Intelligent orchestrator for the complete specification-driven development lifecycle. Auto-detects project state and executes the appropriate workflow phases—initialization, specification management, implementation, or review. Integrates with platonic-brainstorming as an optional accelerator in Phases 1 and 2 for structured design exploration and refinement.

When to Use This Skill#

Use this skill when you need to:

• Bootstrap a new project with Platonic Coding infrastructure
• Adopt Platonic Coding for an existing codebase (recover specs from code)
• Manage RFC specifications (validate, refine, generate indices)
• Implement features from RFC specs with guides and tests
• Review code for spec compliance
• Run the full workflow from design → RFC → code → review

Keywords: platonic coding, specs, RFC, implementation, review, workflow, spec-driven, initialization

Intelligent Auto-Detection#

Auto-detects project state when invoked without specific instructions. See references/REFERENCE.md for the full decision tree.

Quick Reference:

• No .platonic.yml → INIT mode (scaffold new or recover existing)
• RFCs but no guides → Phase 2 (implementation)
• Guides + code → Phase 3 (review) or resume Phase 2

Override with canonical operations: init-scaffold, init-scan, specs-refine, impl-full, review, workflow --phase <N>.

Core Workflow Phases#

PhaseFocusOutputBrainstorming1RFC SpecificationDraft → RFC → specs-refine✅ Optional2ImplementationGuide → Code + Tests✅ Optional3ReviewCompliance report❌

Phases run sequentially (full workflow) or independently (explicit invocation). See references/WORKFLOW/workflow-overview.md for details.

Operation Modes#

INIT Mode#

Bootstrap Platonic Coding infrastructure. Operations: init-scaffold, init-scan, init-plan-modular-specs, init-recover-*.

Examples: init-scaffold for project "Acme", init-scan then recover specs.

SPECS Mode#

Manage RFC specifications. Operations: specs-refine (comprehensive), specs-generate-*, specs-validate-*, specs-check-*.

Examples: specs-refine, specs-generate-index.

IMPL Mode#

Translate RFCs to guides and code. Operations: impl-full (default), impl-create-guide, impl-code, impl-validate-guide, impl-update-guide.

Confirmation Gates: Pauses after impl guide and coding plan. Override with "no confirmations".

Examples: impl-full for RFC-042, impl-code from IG-001.

REVIEW Mode#

Validate code against specs. Generates report-only by default (no code changes). 6-step process: understand specs → checklist → map → review → discrepancies → report.

Examples: review src/auth/ against RFC-001, review for gap analysis.

WORKFLOW Mode#

Orchestrate full 3-phase flow. See references/WORKFLOW/workflow-overview.md.

Examples: workflow --phase 1, workflow with platonic-brainstorming.

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For detailed guides, see references/REFERENCE.md.

Default Paths & Templates#

ArtifactPathNamingDraftsdocs/drafts/``YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.mdRFCsdocs/specs/``RFC-NNN-<name>.mdGuidesdocs/impl/``IG-NNN-<name>.md

Templates in assets/ use {{PLACEHOLDER}} syntax.

Best Practices#

1. Trust auto-detection; override with explicit operations when needed
2. Review generated artifacts (all Draft status)
3. Run specs-refine regularly
4. Use confirmation gates—don't skip unless confident
5. Review mode is report-only by default

Dependencies#

• Read/write to project directories
• Access to .platonic.yml
• Understanding of target language/framework