Conciseness

Quotes: the grading reference is invoked four separate times — Step 1 ('see [Grading Effort, Value, and Themes](references/grading-effort-value-themes.md)'), Verification items 6-7 ('graded against the value rubric (see [Grading Effort, Value, and Themes]...)'), Mindset ('RECOMMENDED to happen against the rubric in [Grading Effort, Value, and Themes]...'), and the fourth Anti-Pattern — and the validation loop appears twice (Step 4: 'If validation fails, fix the frontmatter and re-run. Do not proceed until validation passes' vs Verification item 1: 'run `validate-context-frontmatter.sh`... If it fails, fix the frontmatter before presenting the result'). No conceptual padding (nothing explains what a plan or YAML is), but the cross-section repetition is more than 'minor instances' that could be trimmed. Not 4: the duplication spans four sections; not 2: the bulk is efficient, actionable, and free of known-concept explanations.

Actionability

Quotes: an executable one-liner 'grep -r '^## ' .context/plans/*.md | sed 's/.*## //' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn', concrete thresholds ('Core sections (present in >= 40% of plans)', '2-5 concrete tasks', 'Phases with more than 8 tasks should be split'), specific file paths ('[assets/templates/plan-scaffold.yaml](assets/templates/plan-scaffold.yaml)'), and a concrete validation command 'validate-context-frontmatter.sh .context/plans/<plan-file>.md'. Mostly executable guidance with minor gaps: the validation script belongs to an external skill (context-index) rather than this bundle, and the bundle's own scripts/ (validate-plan-scaffold.sh/.ts, validator-skeleton.ts) are never referenced. Not 5: not fully copy-paste self-contained given the external-script dependency and unintegrated bundle scripts.

Workflow Clarity

Quotes: a clearly sequenced 6-step workflow (gather spec → infer conventions → draft → validate → review → confirm) with an explicit feedback loop — 'If validation fails, fix the frontmatter and re-run. Do not proceed until validation passes -- a plan with invalid frontmatter is invisible to the index' — plus a 7-item Verification checklist and a concrete completion summary template. This matches the top anchor: explicit validation steps, error-recovery loop, and a checklist for the full process. Not 4: checkpoints are explicit and repeated at the right places, not merely present.

Progressive Disclosure

Quotes: body links to real one-level-deep references with a navigation table — '[Plan Structure Reference](references/plan-structure.md)', '[Grading Effort, Value, and Themes](references/grading-effort-value-themes.md)', each with a 'When to Use' column — and the template/schema pair '[assets/templates/plan-scaffold.yaml](assets/templates/plan-scaffold.yaml)' / '[assets/schemas/plan-scaffold.schema.json](assets/schemas/plan-scaffold.schema.json)' are present in the bundle and referenced from the body. However, 'see `planning-flow.md`' and 'see `migrate-off-tessl-eval-2026-06-29.md`' point at files absent from the bundle, and the three files in scripts/ (validate-plan-scaffold.sh, validate-plan-scaffold.ts, validator-skeleton.ts) are orphaned — never referenced from SKILL.md. Good structure with real, well-signaled references, but the dangling paths and unintegrated scripts are more than trivial navigation gaps. Not 5: navigation has broken and undiscoverable pieces; not 3: the two references plus assets are clearly signaled, appropriately split, and one level deep.

Specificity

Quotes: 'Create `.context/plans/*.md` files with standard YAML frontmatter, phases/tasks/waves decomposition, and post-creation validation', 'Infers section conventions from existing plans in `.context/plans/`', 'Integrates with plan-review for a create → review → iterate loop'. Multiple specific concrete actions (create with frontmatter, decompose into phases/tasks/waves, validate, infer local conventions, integrate with plan-review) that comprehensively cover the skill's functions. Not 4: coverage is complete rather than having minor gaps; not below: every clause names a concrete action, none is generic filler.

Completeness

Quotes: the first three sentences give a clear 'what' (create plan files with frontmatter, decomposition, validation, convention inference), and "Triggers: 'create a plan', 'new plan', 'draft a plan', 'plan scaffold', 'write a plan'" gives an explicit 'when' with concrete trigger phrases, reinforced by 'Do NOT use for plans outside `.context/plans/`, ephemeral notes, or the main project SKILL.md'. Explicitly answers both what and when; cannot be capped at 3 since trigger guidance is present and explicit.

Trigger Term Quality

Quotes: "Triggers: 'create a plan', 'new plan', 'draft a plan', 'plan scaffold', 'write a plan'". Five natural phrases a user would plausibly say, all creation-flavored. Not 5: misses common variations such as 'implementation plan', 'plan template', or 'planning'; not 3: the coverage goes well beyond 'some relevant keywords' — it enumerates multiple natural phrasings.

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

Quotes: 'plans outside `.context/plans/`' and the creation-verb triggers ('create', 'draft', 'write', 'scaffold') establish a clear niche separate from the sibling plan-review skill, with the exclusion clause ('Do NOT use for...') further reducing overlap. Not 4: the scoping to one directory plus negative boundaries leaves minimal conflict risk with closely related skills.