Plan Cascade
AI-Powered Cascading Development Framework
Transform complex projects into parallel executable tasks with intelligent decomposition and multi-provider execution
| Component | Version | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plugin | Claude Code integration | ||
| Desktop | Local-first AI workstation | ||
| CLI | Command-line interface | ||
| MCP Server | Model Context Protocol |
Why Plan Cascade? * Product Editions * Quick Start * Architecture
Why Plan Cascade?
Traditional AI coding assistants hit a wall with large, complex projects:
| Challenge | Conventional AI | Plan Cascade |
|---|---|---|
| Complexity | Gets lost in large codebases | Decomposes into manageable units |
| Parallelism | Sequential, one-at-a-time | Independent tasks run in parallel |
| Context | Lost during long sessions | Design docs + durable context survive compaction |
| Quality | Manual verification needed | Automated testing & linting at each step |
| Control | Black box execution | Transparent, inspectable workflow |
The Solution: Cascading Decomposition
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Your Project Goal |
| "Build a REST API with authentication" |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
V
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Level 1: Mega Plan |
| --------------------- |
| Project-level orchestration - Manages multiple features in batches |
| Output: mega-plan.json + design_doc.json |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
+-------------------+-------------------+
V V V
+---------------------+ +---------------------+ +---------------------+
| Feature: Auth | | Feature: API | | Feature: Database |
| --------------- | | --------------- | | --------------- |
| PRD + Design Doc | | PRD + Design Doc | | PRD + Design Doc |
+---------------------+ +---------------------+ +---------------------+
| | |
V V V
+---------------------+ +---------------------+ +---------------------+
| Stories (Parallel) | | Stories (Parallel) | | Stories (Parallel) |
| ----------------- | | ----------------- | | ----------------- |
| # JWT Implementation| | # CRUD Endpoints | | # Schema Design |
| # Password Hashing | | # Rate Limiting | | # Migrations |
| # Session Management| | # Input Validation | | # Connection Pool |
+---------------------+ +---------------------+ +---------------------+
|
V
+-----------------+
| Quality Gates |
| ------------- |
| DoR / DoD |
| Test Coverage |
| Lint / Format |
+-----------------+
Product Editions
Plan Cascade is available in three editions to suit different workflows:
| Feature | Plugin | Desktop | CLI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target User | Claude Code users | Multi-model teams | Automation/CI |
| LLM Backend | Claude Code only | 7+ providers (Claude, OpenAI, DeepSeek, Ollama...) | 7+ providers |
| Offline Use | (Ollama) | (Ollama) | |
| Installation | claude plugins install |
Desktop app / pip install |
pip install |
| UI | Slash commands | Full GUI with 4 workflow modes | Command-line |
| Quality Gates | Standard | Enterprise-grade with auto-retry | |
| Security Model | Basic | 5-layer (Guardrail - Gate - Policy - Sandbox - Audit) | Basic |
| Worktree Integration | Visual diff viewer | ||
| Visual Workflow | Real-time timeline + checkpoints | ||
| MCP Stack | Client only | Full stack (Manager + Client + Server) | Client only |
| Knowledge System | Skills + Memory + RAG | ||
| Remote Control | A2A protocol + Telegram bot | ||
| Maturity | Stable | Alpha | Development |
Which Edition Should I Choose?
- Choose Plugin if you're a Claude Code power user who wants seamless integration
- Choose Desktop if you need multi-model support, visual workflows, or offline capability
- Choose CLI if you're building automation pipelines or CI/CD integration
Core Capabilities
Unified Workflow Kernel
All modes share a common foundation:
- Unified lifecycle -- Consistent state management across modes
- Event streaming -- Real-time progress updates via typed events
- Mode handoff -- Seamless switching between Chat - Plan - Task
- Checkpointing -- Recovery from interruptions
Quality Gates Pipeline
Every Story passes through validation:
+---------+ +---------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ +---------+
| DoR | - | Code | - | DoD | - | AI Verify | - | Review |
| (Ready) | | (Write) | | (Done) | | (No Stubs) | | (Score) |
+---------+ +---------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ +---------+
| | | | |
V V V V V
Validate Implement Verify all Detect stub Code quality
requirements solution criteria code & TODOs scoring
Design Document Hierarchy
Two-level architecture ensures consistency:
- Project-level -- Global patterns, shared decisions (ADR-001, ADR-002...)
- Feature-level -- Component-specific decisions (ADR-F001, ADR-F002...)
External Framework Skills
Auto-injected best practices from Git submodules:
- React/Next.js -- detected via
package.json - Vue/Nuxt -- detected via
package.json - Rust -- detected via
Cargo.toml
Architecture
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Plan Cascade Core |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| +-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ |
| | Strategy | | PRD | | Parallel | | Quality | |
| | Selector | | Generator | | Executor | | Gates | |
| +-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Agent Backend Layer |
| +----------------------------+ +----------------------------+ |
| | ClaudeCodeBackend | | BuiltinBackend | |
| | (subprocess, no API) | | (direct API, ReAct loop) | |
| +----------------------------+ +----------------------------+ |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| LLM Provider Layer |
| Anthropic | OpenAI | DeepSeek | Ollama | GLM | Qwen | MiniMax |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Quick Start
Plugin (Stable)
# Install in Claude Code
claude plugins install plan-cascade
# Use slash commands
/plan-cascade:auto "Implement user authentication"
claude plugins install plan-cascade
# Use slash commands
/plan-cascade:auto "Implement user authentication"
CLI (Development)
# Requires Python 3.10+ and uv
git clone https://github.com/Taoidle/plan-cascade.git
cd plan-cascade
uv run pytest tests/ # Run tests
# CLI entry point
uv run plan-cascade --help
git clone https://github.com/Taoidle/plan-cascade.git
cd plan-cascade
uv run pytest tests/ # Run tests
# CLI entry point
uv run plan-cascade --help
Desktop (Alpha)
See desktop/README.md for the full-featured desktop application.
Documentation
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| Plugin Guide | Claude Code plugin usage |
| CLI Guide | Command-line interface |
| Mega Plan Guide | Multi-feature orchestration |
| Desktop README | Desktop application |
| PRD Template | PRD file format |
Project Structure
plan-cascade/
+-- src/plan_cascade/ # Core Python library
| +-- core/ # Orchestration engines
| +-- backends/ # Agent abstraction layer
| +-- state/ # Thread-safe state management
| +-- llm/ # LLM provider abstraction
| +-- tools/ # ReAct tool implementations
+-- desktop/ # Tauri desktop application
| +-- src/ # React frontend
| +-- src-tauri/ # Rust backend
+-- skills/ # Plugin skills
| +-- hybrid-ralph/ # PRD-driven execution
| +-- mega-plan/ # Multi-feature orchestration
| +-- planning-with-files/ # File-based planning
+-- commands/ # Slash command definitions
+-- mcp_server/ # FastMCP server
Roadmap
| Component | Current | Next Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Plugin | 4.4.0 Stable | 5.0.0 - Enhanced CLI integration |
| Desktop | 0.1.0 Alpha | 0.2.0 - Beta with full workflow |
| CLI | Development | 1.0.0 - Stable release |
| MCP Server | Stable | Enhanced tool support |
Contributing
We welcome contributions! Please see our contributing guidelines for details.
License
MIT License - see LICENSE for details.