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Plan Governance Hub

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Plan Governance Hub

Plan governance defines how plans are created, amended, tracked, indexed, and retired in OpenClaw. It covers: G-PLAN-INDEX-REQUIRED (every plan needs a project_*.md + MEMORY.md entry), the plan Q&A protocol (numbered questions must never be lost), the Δ amendment pattern (plans are additive-only), status flags, and the 91-plan catalog state. Read this hub when creating a new plan, amending an existing plan, auditing plan health, or tracing why a plan decision was made. Active plans are indexed at PLAN-INDEX; decision ratifications are logged in decision-log (W2-S2).

Quick reference

FieldValue
Gate IDG-PLAN-INDEX-REQUIRED (§A1, gate #1); also G-BLOCKER-SURFACING (#3), G-GOVERNANCE-LOG-FRESHNESS (#7)
CLAUDE.md section§“MANDATORY: Cascade-Failure Gates” gate #1; §“Plan Q&A Protocol”; §“Completion Packet” step 7; §“Request Routing Protocol” Step 5 post-7
Enforcement modemanual
Validator scriptn/a (Phase 4.5: PLAN-INDEX.md will enforce)
Discord alertpending (Phase 2 weekly-index-audit.timer)
Feedback rulesfeedback_plan_index_required, feedback_plan_governance_standard, feedback_plan_amendments_additive, feedback_plan_labels_required, feedback_plan_status_inline_and_verify, feedback_plan_completeness_gate, feedback_blocker_surfacing
Incidents derived from89% orphan-plan rate (68 of 77 plans as of 2026-05-01); Binance/EU plan fell off fold; Aurora SOUL overwrite caught via plan Q&A; 47 hidden blockers
Violable byClaude
Last known violation2026-05-01: 68 orphan plans (no project_*.md, not MEMORY.md indexed)
Amendment§A1 2026-05-01 gate #1
Phase statusactive
Last audit2026-05-03

Components

  • ~/.claude/plans/ — plan files (all *.md, ~91 total as of 2026-05-03)
  • /home/opsadmin/.claude/projects/-home-opsadmin/memory/PLAN-INDEX.md — lazy-load plan catalog (Phase 4.5)
  • /home/opsadmin/.claude/projects/-home-opsadmin/memory/MEMORY.md — top-of-mind memory; plan index pointer in §“Plan-index pointer”
  • /home/opsadmin/.openclaw/workspace/SESSION-AUDIT.md — NEXT ACTIONS and OPEN ISSUES (blocker mirror target)
  • /home/opsadmin/.openclaw/workspace/PLAN-CONSOLIDATION-LOG.md — fragmentation detection (check before new plan)
  • /home/opsadmin/.openclaw/workspace/HENRY-PREFERENCES.md — founder preferences affecting plan format (§4, §6)
  • /home/opsadmin/.openclaw/tools/plan-sync-mc.py — plan status sync script (run after phase status change)
  • /home/opsadmin/.openclaw/workspace/POST-PLAN-ASSIMILATION.md — mandatory checklist after major work
  • /home/opsadmin/.claude/plans/openclaw-fragmentation-fix-2026-05-01.md — master governance plan

G-PLAN-INDEX-REQUIRED rule

When creating any file in ~/.claude/plans/, MUST in the same task create matching project_*.md memory file in .claude/projects/-home-opsadmin/memory/ AND append a one-line index entry to MEMORY.md (or PLAN-INDEX.md once Phase 4.5 ships). Plan creation without index = governance violation.

What this stops: The 89% orphan-plan rate — 68 of 77 plans had no project_.md as of 2026-05-01. No project_.md means the plan is invisible at session start, can’t be searched via memory_search, and effectively “doesn’t exist” for decision-making. The Binance/EU plan was lost specifically because it had no project_*.md and fell below the MEMORY.md fold.

Three required actions when creating a plan:

  1. Create plan file in ~/.claude/plans/<name>.md
  2. Create project_*.md in .claude/projects/-home-opsadmin/memory/ with standardized frontmatter
  3. Append one-line entry to MEMORY.md §“Most active projects” (above fold if P0/P1) OR to PLAN-INDEX.md (once Phase 4.5 ships)

Plan Q&A protocol

Every plan file MUST have a ## Plan Q&A section. Comments from Henry never get lost.

## Plan Q&A
 
### Q1: <question title>
**Question:** <what was asked — verbatim if possible>
**Why it matters:** <impact on the plan>
**Henry's answer:** (filled when received)
**What this changes:** <plan delta>
**How to verify:** <test/check for the change>

After Henry answers:

  1. Restate the confirmed answer explicitly
  2. Show the plan delta (“what changed since last version”)
  3. Provide the next concrete step + expected result

Governance link: Q&A entries are how plan-level blockers become resolvable. Unresolved Q&A entries = open blockers = must be mirrored to SESSION-AUDIT.md NEXT ACTIONS per G-BLOCKER-SURFACING.

Δ amendment pattern (additive-only)

From feedback_plan_amendments_additive:

Plans are additive-only. Never retroactively rewrite completed phases, decision ratifications, or Q&A answers. If a decision was wrong, add a correction as a new amendment with a timestamp (Δ1, Δ2, etc.).

Format:

## Amendment Δ1 — 2026-05-03
 
**Context:** <what changed or was discovered>
**Decision:** <what we're doing differently>
**Previous state:** <what the plan said before>
**Gate check:** <which G-gates apply to this amendment>

This prevents retroactive revision of history — a plan should be auditable end-to-end.

Plan status flags

FlagMeaningAction required
activeIn-flight; phases being executedRegular SESSION-AUDIT updates
plannedCreated but not startedBlock on ratification of blockers
pausedWork stopped; context handoff writtengsd:pause-work skill run
completeAll phases done; post-plan-assimilation runArchive to _archive/ dir
deprecatedSuperseded by newer planLink to superseding plan
blockedCannot proceed without Henry inputMirror blocker to SESSION-AUDIT NEXT ACTIONS

Plan frontmatter convention (project_*.md)

All project_*.md memory files use standardized frontmatter (Phase D 2026-05-02):

---
title: <Plan Name>
plan-file: ~/.claude/plans/<name>.md
status: active | planned | paused | complete | deprecated | blocked
phase-current: <N>
phase-total: <N>
last-updated: 2026-05-03
priority: P0 | P1 | P2 | P3
cluster: [<enum>]
incident_derived: true | false
depends-on: [<plan-name>]
blocks: [<plan-name>]
---

Active plans — current state (2026-05-03)

91 plans total; 23 indexed in PLAN-INDEX.md; 68 orphans pending Phase 11.6 D.5 backfill.

P0 plans (in MEMORY.md above fold)

P1 plans (recent)

Consolidated plan catalog

Full index: PLAN-INDEX (lazy-load; 91 plans; do not auto-read at session start)

Pre-new-plan checklist

Before creating ANY new plan file, MUST verify:

  1. Glob ~/.claude/plans/*.md — does a matching plan already exist?
  2. workspace_query with request keywords — is this covered by an existing plan?
  3. memory_search with request keywords — was this previously decided?
  4. Check workspace/PLAN-CONSOLIDATION-LOG.md — fragmentation risk?
  5. If overlap found → load existing plan and add amendment (Δ pattern)
  6. If genuinely new → create plan AND project_*.md AND MEMORY.md entry (G-PLAN-INDEX-REQUIRED)

Post-plan completion checklist

Per CLAUDE.md §“Completion Packet” + POST-PLAN-ASSIMILATION.md:

  1. Update plan file — all phases marked complete
  2. Update project_*.md — status: complete
  3. Update MEMORY.md — move from “Most active projects” or remove if below P1
  4. Run python3 ~/.openclaw/tools/plan-sync-mc.py — syncs plan status
  5. Add entry to workspace/AUDIT-LOG.md (G-GOVERNANCE-LOG-FRESHNESS)
  6. Add entry to workspace/CHANGELOG.md (G-GOVERNANCE-LOG-FRESHNESS)
  7. Mirror any remaining open items to SESSION-AUDIT.md (G-BLOCKER-SURFACING)
  8. Run POST-PLAN-ASSIMILATION.md checklist

Agents that touch this

  • _summary — all Aurora plans go through Q&A protocol
  • _summary — OSIL B-series blockerse use plan Q&A
  • _summary — backfill plan phases tracked here
  • _summary — model routing plans

Skills that invoke this

Plans that govern this

Feedback rules

KB / source docs

  • README — planning conventions

System maps

Governance enforcement cluster (anchor: g-gates-network):

Feedback rule inventory

RuleClusterEnforcementLast fire
feedback_plan_index_requiredgovernancemanual2026-05-01 (89% orphan rate)
feedback_plan_governance_standardgovernancemanual2026-05-03
feedback_plan_amendments_additivegovernancemanual2026-05-03 (OSIL B-series)
feedback_plan_labels_requiredgovernancemanual2026-05-01
feedback_plan_status_inline_and_verifygovernancemanual2026-05-01
feedback_plan_completeness_gategovernancemanual2026-05-01
feedback_blocker_surfacinggovernancemanual2026-05-01 (47 hidden)
feedback_post_audit_persistencegovernancemanual2026-05-01
feedback_tier_0_first_before_amendmentsgovernancemanual2026-05-03
feedback_pre_build_index_verificationgovernancemanual2026-05-03
feedback_universal_execution_rulesgovernancemanualongoing

Open issues / TODOs

  • 68 orphan plans (no project_*.md) — Phase 11.6 D.5 backfill pending
  • PLAN-INDEX.md has 23 entries; 91 plans total → 68 not indexed
  • Phase 4.5 of fragmentation-fix will split PLAN-INDEX.md from MEMORY.md and add enforcement
  • plan-sync-mc.py script last verified working: unknown; should run after each phase completion
  • Decision log (W2-S2 forward-ref) will capture OSIL B1-B16 + Q1-Q7 visual mapping ratifications

Recent activity

  • 2026-05-03: hub created (W2-S1); references to W2-S2 decision-log + memory-rule-clusters added as forward-refs
  • 2026-05-02: Phase D MEMORY.md three-file split (MEMORY / SAFETY-RAILS / PLAN-INDEX)
  • 2026-05-01: G-PLAN-INDEX-REQUIRED gate added via §A1 amendment after 89% orphan audit

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