msd-core/get-shit-done/workflows/plant-seed.md

Capture a forward-looking idea as a structured seed file with trigger conditions. Seeds auto-surface during /gsd-new-milestone when trigger conditions match the new milestone's scope.

Seeds beat deferred items because they:

• Preserve WHY the idea matters (not just WHAT)
• Define WHEN to surface (trigger conditions, not manual scanning)
• Track breadcrumbs (code references, related decisions)
• Auto-present at the right time via new-milestone scan

Parse `$ARGUMENTS` for the idea summary.

If empty, ask:

What's the idea? (one sentence)

Store as $IDEA.

```bash mkdir -p .planning/seeds ``` Ask focused questions to build a complete seed:

Text mode (workflow.text_mode: true in config or --text flag): Set TEXT_MODE=true if --text is present in $ARGUMENTS OR text_mode from init JSON is true. When TEXT_MODE is active, replace every AskUserQuestion call with a plain-text numbered list and ask the user to type their choice number. This is required for non-Claude runtimes (OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, etc.) where AskUserQuestion is not available.

AskUserQuestion(
  header: "Trigger",
  question: "When should this idea surface? (e.g., 'when we add user accounts', 'next major version', 'when performance becomes a priority')",
  options: []  // freeform
)

Store as $TRIGGER.

AskUserQuestion(
  header: "Why",
  question: "Why does this matter? What problem does it solve or what opportunity does it create?",
  options: []
)

Store as $WHY.

AskUserQuestion(
  header: "Scope",
  question: "How big is this? (rough estimate)",
  options: [
    { label: "Small", description: "A few hours — could be a quick task" },
    { label: "Medium", description: "A phase or two — needs planning" },
    { label: "Large", description: "A full milestone — significant effort" }
  ]
)

Store as $SCOPE.

Search the codebase for relevant references:

# Find files related to the idea keywords
grep -rl "$KEYWORD" --include="*.ts" --include="*.js" --include="*.md" . 2>/dev/null | head -10

Also check:

• Current STATE.md for related decisions
• ROADMAP.md for related phases
• todos/ for related captured ideas

Store relevant file paths as $BREADCRUMBS.

```bash # Find next seed number EXISTING=$( (ls .planning/seeds/SEED-*.md 2>/dev/null || true) | wc -l ) NEXT=$((EXISTING + 1)) PADDED=$(printf "%03d" $NEXT) ```

Generate slug from idea summary.

Write `.planning/seeds/SEED-{PADDED}-{slug}.md`:

---
id: SEED-{PADDED}
status: dormant
planted: {ISO date}
planted_during: {current milestone/phase from STATE.md}
trigger_when: {$TRIGGER}
scope: {$SCOPE}
---

# SEED-{PADDED}: {$IDEA}

## Why This Matters

{$WHY}

## When to Surface

**Trigger:** {$TRIGGER}

This seed should be presented during `/gsd-new-milestone` when the milestone
scope matches any of these conditions:
- {trigger condition 1}
- {trigger condition 2}

## Scope Estimate

**{$SCOPE}** — {elaboration based on scope choice}

## Breadcrumbs

Related code and decisions found in the current codebase:

{list of $BREADCRUMBS with file paths}

## Notes

{any additional context from the current session}

```bash gsd-sdk query commit "docs: plant seed — {$IDEA}" --files .planning/seeds/SEED-{PADDED}-{slug}.md ``` ``` ✅ Seed planted: SEED-{PADDED}

"{$IDEA}" Trigger: {$TRIGGER} Scope: {$SCOPE} File: .planning/seeds/SEED-{PADDED}-{slug}.md

This seed will surface automatically when you run /gsd-new-milestone and the milestone scope matches the trigger condition.

</step>

</process>

<success_criteria>
- [ ] Seed file created in .planning/seeds/
- [ ] Frontmatter includes status, trigger, scope
- [ ] Breadcrumbs collected from codebase
- [ ] Committed to git
- [ ] User shown confirmation with trigger info
</success_criteria>