PDD Workflow

Plan-Driven Development workflow for AI-assisted development.

When to use

Use this workflow when:

• Starting implementation of a new feature or task
• Working on bug fixes that require investigation
• Performing refactoring or technical improvements
• Any task that benefits from upfront planning

Workflow

Before Implementation

1. Check if the user is on a feature branch (not main/master)
2. Check if PLAN.md exists at {PDD_WORKSPACE_DIR}/{branch}/PLAN.md
   • Default: .claude/pdd/{branch}/PLAN.md
3. If PLAN.md does not exist, suggest: "Would you like to create a plan first? Run /pdd:plan"
4. If PLAN.md exists, read it to understand the context and tasks

During Implementation

1. Follow the tasks outlined in PLAN.md
2. When encountering unexpected issues or making unplanned decisions, note them mentally
3. At natural breakpoints (completing a subtask, solving a difficult problem), suggest: "Would you like to capture these findings? Run /pdd:notes"

Suggesting NOTES

Suggest creating NOTES when:

• An unexpected issue was discovered and resolved
• A technical decision was made that wasn't in the plan
• The approach deviated from the original plan
• Significant debugging or investigation was performed
• The session is about to end with important context

Environment Variables

• PDD_WORKSPACE_DIR: Base directory (default: .claude/pdd)
• PDD_LOCALE: Output language - en or ja (default: en)

Philosophy

• PLAN is a hypothesis created through discussion
• Implementation reveals unknowns
• NOTES preserve discoveries across sessions
• Human decides timing; AI executes