Manage Files Skill

Manage Files Skill

Generic file operations for plan directories. Provides basic CRUD operations for any file within a plan directory.

What This Skill Provides

• Generic file read/​write/​remove operations
• Directory listing and creation
• File existence checking
• Plan directory create-or-reference (atomic check/​create)
• No content validation (caller provides complete content)

When to Activate This Skill

Activate this skill when:

• Reading or writing arbitrary files in a plan directory
• Creating subdirectories within a plan
• Listing plan contents
• Checking if files exist

Note: For typed plan documents (request.md, solution_outline.md), use pm-workflow:manage-plan-documents instead. For domain-specific files (config.toon, references.toon, status.toon), use the dedicated manage-* skills.

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Storage Location

Files are stored in plan directories:

.plan/​plans/​{plan_id}/
  request.md
  solution_outline.md
  config.toon
  references.toon
  status.toon
  tasks/

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Operations

Script: pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files

read

Read file content from a plan directory.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files read \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --file notes.md

Output: Raw file content (no wrapping)

write

Write content to a file in a plan directory.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files write \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --file request.md \
  --content "# Request Title

Task description with multiline content.

## Section

More content here..."

Parameters:

• --plan-id (required): Plan identifier
• --file (required): Relative file path within plan directory
• --content: Content to write (mutually exclusive with --stdin)
• --stdin: Read content from stdin instead of --content

Note: The --content parameter supports multiline content. Do NOT use --stdin with shell heredocs or cat commands.

Output: Prints "Created: {path}" to stderr, exit code 0 on success

remove

Remove a file from a plan directory.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files remove \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --file old-file.md

Output: Confirmation message to stderr, exit code 0 on success

list

List files in a plan directory.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files list \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  [--dir subdir]

Output: Simple file listing, one per line

exists

Check if a file exists.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files exists \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --file config.toon

Output: Exit code 0 if exists, 1 if not

mkdir

Create a subdirectory in a plan directory.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files mkdir \
  --plan-id {plan_id} \
  --dir requirements

Output: Confirmation message to stderr, exit code 0 on success

create-or-reference

Create a plan directory if it doesn't exist, or reference an existing one. This is an atomic operation that replaces the two-step pattern of listing plans and checking for conflicts.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files create-or-reference \
  --plan-id {plan_id}

Output (TOON format):

When plan is newly created:

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
action: created
path: /​path/​to/​.plan/​plans/​my-feature

When plan already exists:

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
action: exists
path: /​path/​to/​.plan/​plans/​my-feature
current_phase: refine
domain: java

Use case: Called by plan-init to atomically check/​create plan directories.

delete-plan

Delete an entire plan directory. Used when user selects "Replace" for an existing plan during plan-init.

python3 .plan/​execute-script.py pm-workflow:manage-files:manage-files delete-plan \
  --plan-id {plan_id}

Output (TOON format):

On success:

status: success
plan_id: my-feature
action: deleted
path: /​path/​to/​.plan/​plans/​my-feature
files_removed: 5

On error (plan not found):

status: error
plan_id: my-feature
error: plan_not_found
message: Plan directory does not exist: /​path/​to/​.plan/​plans/​my-feature

Use case: Called by plan-init when user selects "Replace" to delete existing plan before creating new one. See pm-workflow:phase-1-init/​standards/​plan-overwrite.md for the full workflow.

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Scripts

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Key Design Principles

1. plan_id only - Never pass full paths, script resolves base via base_path()
2. Relative file paths - --file accepts relative paths within plan dir (e.g., requirements/​REQ-001.toon)
3. Generic file operations - Not domain-specific (no parse-plan, write-config)
4. Plain output - read returns raw content; mutations return minimal status
5. No validation - Caller provides complete content; no content validation

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Validation Rules

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Error Handling

status: error
plan_id: my-feature
file: nonexistent.md
error: file_not_found
message: File does not exist

suggestions[2]:
- Check file name spelling
- Use list subcommand to see available files

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Integration Points

With Domain Skills

Domain-specific skills (manage-config, manage-references, manage-lifecycle) may use this skill for basic file operations, or import shared libraries directly.

With Orchestration Skills

Plan orchestration skills (plan-init, solution-outline, task-plan, plan-execute) use this skill for generic file I/​O.

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Relationship to Domain Skills