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On 2026-08-06 @EXM7777 asserts that crafting a solid plan does 80% of the work…

Brief

@EXM7777 (2026-08-06) argues that planning constitutes 80% of AI-building work and is the only step needing real human thinking. Recommended process: use plugins (Compound Engineering or Matt Pocock's grilling), reverse-prompt large models (Fable 5, GPT-5.6 Sol) while grounding choices with websearch, specify harnesses/models/effort, get an agent review, then run goal+loops to ship.

Why it matters

On 2026-08-06 @EXM7777 asserts that crafting a solid plan does 80% of the work when building with AI — planning is the primary human contribution.

Key details

  • Use a plugin like Compound Engineering or Matt Pocock's 'grilling' skill and perform reverse prompting with a BIG model (example models: Fable 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol, 'always on high' for planning); brainstorm by answering the model's questions, focus on why (not how), and ground decisions with websearch to find the best tool or API/CLI.
  • Be explicit about the harnesses you will run, the models required and their effort levels; always call another agent to review and iterate the plan until it's 'perfect', then run goal+loop cycles and let agents execute the vision.
Source evidence

crafting a solid plan does 80% of the job when building with AI...

it's the only real thinking part, pretty much the only step where the agent needs you for real

here are 3 very simple ways to improve your plans, and with them your outputs...

use a plugin like Compound Engineering or Matt Pocock's grilling skill:

> this is reverse prompting, so use a BIG model (Fable 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol, always on high for planning)
> brainstorm by answering its questions, go as deep as you can on why you're building this, don't focus on the how
> ground your decisions in websearch: what's the best tool for the task, is there an API or CLI to automate it

then be very specific about the harnesses you'll run, the models you need and their effort levels

finally, always call another agent to review the plan, and iterate until it's perfect

from there you run a goal and loops, and watch the agents ship the vision