Robots have two friction problems. Static friction — the difficulty of stopping before starting — is improving. Dynamic friction — the difficulty of stopping once started — is not. A robot asked to move a file will move the file, delete the backup, reorganize the directory, update the config, restart the service, and declare victory before anyone asked it to do steps 2 through 6.
The plan addresses both: it forces a stop before the first action, and it encodes stops between every subsequent action. The plan is the format that makes robots ask before doing.
A plan is a single HTML file in the deck format that describes a proposed sequence of actions, each action being a discrete step with a defined deliverable and an explicit stop point, the whole composing a document that a human reads, approves, modifies, or rejects before any action is taken.
The plan is the seventh document format in the family. It inherits the deck's visual language — One Dark palette, JetBrains Mono, CRT scanlines, bordered panels — and adds the vocabulary of action: steps, stops, decisions, risks, and questions.
This document describes the plan and is formatted according to its own description.
| Status | Meaning | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| DRAFT | Proposed, not yet reviewed | A request. Daniel reads it. |
| APPROVED | Daniel said go | A mandate. Execute one step at a time. |
| EXECUTING | In progress | Record of what has been done and what remains. |
| COMPLETE | All steps done and verified | A receipt. |
| REJECTED | Daniel said no | A lesson. |
Every plan contains these elements, demonstrated live below. This is both the specification and the example.
⚠ RISK — A known danger or side effect. Stated plainly, not minimized. "This will delete the git history" not "this will clean up some space."
? QUESTION — Something the robot doesn't know and needs Daniel to answer before proceeding. Not rhetorical. Not "should I proceed?" but "which of these three options do you want?"
"Hey can I get a pasta carbonara?" Chef says "okay I made it." "Can I eat it? Can I have it?" "Oh, I didn't know you also wanted it. I thought you just wanted me to pretend to make it in the kitchen."
The plan is the carbonara served on a plate. Not described in an email. Not summarized in a status update. Not "I made something, trust me." The actual dish, visible, reviewable, edible.
A plan with no steps is not a plan. A plan with no stops is not a plan — it's a script. A plan that executes itself is not a plan — it's a runbook that skipped the review.
| Format | Medium | Self-embodying | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Null | Plain text (no measure) | Yes | 1.foo/null |
| Leaf | LaTeX → PDF (A6) | Yes | 1.foo/leaf |
| Card | LaTeX → PDF (A5) | Yes | 1.foo/card |
| Text | Plain text (56 chars) | Yes | 1.foo/text |
| Page | HTML (light) | Yes | 1.foo/page |
| Note | LaTeX → PDF (marginalia) | Yes | 1.foo/note |
| Deck | HTML (dark) | No (PDF) | 1.foo/deck |
| Plan | HTML (dark, deck variant) | Yes ← you are here | 1.foo/plan |
| Plan | Status | URL |
|---|---|---|
| Bash Standardization v2 | DRAFT | plan-bash-upgrade-v2 |
| Domain Isolation | COMPLETE | plan-domain-isolation |
| File Migration | COMPLETE | plan-file-migration |
| Hourly Deck | EXECUTING | plan-hourly-deck |
| Foreman Decommission | APPROVED | plan-decommission |
| Tototo Recovery | COMPLETE | plan-tototo |
| Content Disposition | COMPLETE | plan-content-disposition |
| DNS Consolidation | DRAFT | plan-dns-consolidation |