Prometheus: Planner

Prometheus is the planning agent. It takes your high-level goal and breaks it into a structured, executable plan. It only runs when you invoke /start-work.

What Prometheus Does

1. Explores the codebase (if one exists) to understand existing patterns, conventions, and structure
2. Decomposes your goal into ordered tasks with dependencies
3. Identifies parallelization opportunities: tasks that can run simultaneously
4. Defines verification criteria for each task
5. Saves the plan to .sisyphus/plans/<name>.md

When It Triggers

Prometheus only runs as part of /start-work. It does not activate during normal conversation.

/start-work "Build a Go REST API for a bookmark manager with SQLite storage, add tag support, JWT auth"

This triggers:

1. Prometheus explores the current directory (or starts fresh if empty)
2. Prometheus writes a plan to .sisyphus/plans/bookmark-api.md
3. Atlas picks up the plan and begins orchestration

What a Plan Looks Like

Plans are saved as markdown files in .sisyphus/plans/. A plan contains:

• Goal: What you asked for, restated clearly
• Tasks: Ordered list of implementation steps, each with:
  • Description
  • Dependencies on other tasks
  • Verification criteria (tests, build, lint)
• Parallelization hints: Which tasks can run concurrently

Example structure:

# Plan: Bookmark API

## Goal
Build a Go REST API for bookmark management with SQLite, tags, and JWT auth.

## Tasks

### Task 1: Project scaffold
- Initialize Go module, directory structure
- No dependencies
- Verify: `go build ./...`

### Task 2: SQLite models
- Define Bookmark, Tag, User models
- Depends on: Task 1
- Verify: `go test ./models/...`

### Task 3: Auth middleware
- JWT generation and validation
- Depends on: Task 2 (User model)
- Verify: `go test ./middleware/...`

### Task 4: CRUD handlers
- Bookmark and tag CRUD routes
- Depends on: Task 2, Task 3
- Verify: `go test ./handlers/...`

### Task 5: Integration tests
- End-to-end API tests
- Depends on: Task 4
- Verify: `go test ./...`

When to Use Prometheus vs Skip It

Use /start-work (triggers Prometheus) when

• Starting a new project from scratch
• Adding a major feature that touches multiple files
• Doing a large refactor that needs a plan
• You want structured verification at each step

Skip Prometheus (talk to Sisyphus directly) when

• Making small changes (add a comment, rename a variable)
• Fixing a bug (use the debug playbook)
• Asking questions about the codebase
• Adding a single, well-scoped feature (use the add-feature playbook)

Tips

• Be specific. The more detail you give /start-work, the better the plan. "Build a bookmark API with SQLite and JWT auth" beats "Build a bookmark app."
• Check the plan. After Prometheus creates the plan, read through .sisyphus/plans/*.md before Atlas starts executing. You can edit the plan or ask for changes.
• Plans are git-trackable. The .sisyphus/plans/ directory is meant to be committed. Plans serve as documentation of what you intended to build.

See Also

• Atlas: Orchestrator — What happens after the plan is created
• Sisyphus: Executor — The agent that does the actual work
• Start a New Project — Full walkthrough with Prometheus