Prompt of the Month — August 2026: "Plan before code"

This month’s highlighted prompt from the library is Plan before code — the discipline of forcing a written plan (problem, constraints, smallest change, verification) before any file is touched.

Why this one: it’s the prompt-sized version of the Complexity Gate. Most agent disasters aren’t bad code — they’re good code for the wrong problem. Sixty seconds of forced planning catches the misframe while it’s still free to fix.

Discussion here:

  • How do you use it — verbatim, or adapted into your own rules?
  • Where did it save you (or where did it get in the way)?
  • What would you change for the next iteration?

Browse the full library at coding-os.dev/prompts, and the current highlight always lives at /prompts/of-the-month.