Research → Design → Plan → Implement

Recipe

For features that take 4–6 hours, this simple sequence works well:

1. Research: gather constraints, edge cases, and existing patterns.
2. Design: decide the shape of the solution (interfaces, data flow, tradeoffs).
3. Plan: break the work into small, ordered steps with clear checkpoints.
4. Implement: execute one step at a time, validating as you go.

Why this helps agent workflows:

• Context window control: each phase keeps only relevant information in focus.
• Quality: decisions are made before coding, so fewer surprises appear late.
• Throughput: smaller checkpoints reduce rework and make progress visible.

A useful rule of thumb:

If a feature is too big to explain in one short plan, it is too big to implement in one pass.

Split it, then run the same sequence again.