A plan is a structured representation of intended actions, decisions, and timelines, created to coordinate behavior across time and between agents. Parameters: the target state or goal, the sequence of actions leading to it, resource allocation, and the temporal or conditional triggers governing execution. Persistence mechanism: externalized through documentation, communicated through language and shared protocols, and sustained by institutional enforcement, social obligation, and the practical need to coordinate multi-agent action across extended timescales. [formal: planum | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
plan
A plan is a structured representation of intended actions, decisions, and timelines, created to coordinate behavior across time and between agents. Parameters: the target state or goal, the sequence of actions leading to it, resource alloc…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A human-made artifact: a structured representation of intended actions, decisions, and timelines, created to coordinate behavior across time and between agents. Distinct from planning (the cognitive/organizational process), a plan is the persisting document or schema that captures the output of planning for reference and execution.
Names and aliases
- planen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrv6h52c005f2ceix8fhg0h0DEPENDS_ON →
Planning needs causal reasoning to operate now — a plan coordinates actions toward future outcomes, and without causal reasoning there is no way to predict what actions will produce those outcomes. Remove causal reasoning and planning collapses into guesswork. The removal test passes: planning's operational mechanism IS reasoning about cause-effect to project future states.
Relations to this entry
- cmrnq180x02yid1nl77mmli3l← INSTANCE_OF
A scheme is a specific kind of plan — a systematic arrangement designed to achieve a goal. The filer leans on the sense of scheme as structured plan, per the accepted plan definition.
- cmrq9fp7508wwd1nlhdii4zyj← INSTANCE_OF
A schedule IS a specific kind of plan: a plan organized temporally. A competent speaker calls a schedule 'a plan.' Law 9: specific→general. The schedule narrows the general concept of plan by adding temporal structure.
- cms58a2ze0165i9iqkkdm4hax← INSTANCE_OF
An agenda IS a specific kind of plan — a structured list of items to be discussed or acted upon at a meeting or event. The competent-speaker test passes: an agenda is 'a type of plan' specifically for organizing group activity. Nearest kind is plan.
- cms9jtw1j01c97skqmheqlsy9← INSTANCE_OF
emergency-plan is a specific kind of plan — one focused on preparing for and responding to emergencies. A competent speaker would say 'an emergency plan is a type of plan.' Law 9: specific→general to the nearest kind.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 21, 2026, 10:39 PM UTC
- Content hash
- b0c0ac7dc10683fb019f002812d154a7ae06789d35dc7d645cd0c7bf6d05f43a