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Intro to Plane Compose

Video Placeholder Duration: 4-6 minutes Topics covered: What is Compose, using Compose in descriptions, Pages integration, content generation, refinement


What is Plane Compose?

Plane Compose is Plane's AI-powered writing assistant designed to help you create and refine content throughout Plane. Whether you're writing work item descriptions, documentation, or comments, Compose helps you write better, faster.


Where You'll Find Compose

Compose is available wherever you write in Plane:

Look for the AI/Compose icon in any text editor.


Core Capabilities

Generate Content

Create new content from prompts:

  • Write descriptions from brief notes
  • Generate documentation from outlines
  • Create templates from examples

Refine Content

Improve existing content:

  • Rephrase for clarity
  • Expand with more detail
  • Summarize long content
  • Fix grammar and tone

Transform Content

Convert content formats:

  • Turn notes into structured docs
  • Convert bullet points to paragraphs
  • Create checklists from text

Using Compose in Work Items

Writing Descriptions

When creating or editing a work item:

  1. Click into the description field
  2. Click the Compose icon or press a shortcut
  3. Choose an action or enter a prompt

Generation Example

You: "Write a description for a user authentication feature"

Compose generates:
## Overview
Implement a secure user authentication system that allows
users to register, log in, and manage their sessions.

## Requirements
- Email/password registration
- OAuth support (Google, GitHub)
- Password reset functionality
- Session management with JWT tokens

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Users can register with email
- [ ] Users can log in with credentials
- [ ] Password reset email is sent within 60 seconds
- [ ] Sessions expire after 24 hours of inactivity

Refinement Example

Original: "fix the bug where users cant login"

[Rephrase for clarity]

Compose generates:
"Resolve authentication failure preventing user login.
Users are unable to authenticate with valid credentials,
receiving a generic error message instead of accessing their accounts."

Using Compose in Pages

Documentation Generation

Start with an outline, let Compose fill in details:

Your outline:
# API Documentation
- Authentication
- Endpoints
- Error handling

[Expand each section]

Compose generates full documentation for each section...

Meeting Notes to Action Items

Transform raw notes:

Your notes:
"discussed new feature, alice will handle frontend,
bob on backend, need to finish by friday,
blocked on design approval"

[Convert to structured format]

Compose generates:
## Meeting Summary

### Decisions Made
- New feature approved for development

### Action Items
- [ ] @Alice: Frontend implementation
- [ ] @Bob: Backend implementation

### Timeline
- Deadline: Friday

### Blockers
- ⚠️ Awaiting design approval

Compose Actions

Rephrase

Rewrite content for better clarity while keeping the meaning:

BeforeAfter
"fix thing that's broken""Resolve the identified issue affecting functionality"
"it doesn't work""The feature is not functioning as expected"

Expand

Add more detail to brief content:

Before: "Add dark mode"

After: "Implement a dark mode theme option that allows users
to toggle between light and dark color schemes. The preference
should be saved to the user's profile and applied consistently
across all pages and components. Include system preference
detection for automatic theme selection."

Summarize

Condense long content:

Before: [Long detailed document...]

After: "This document outlines the authentication system
redesign, including migration from session-based to JWT
authentication, new OAuth providers, and enhanced security
measures. Key deliverables are API updates, frontend
integration, and documentation."

Continue

Generate the next logical section:

Your content:
"## Installation
Run npm install to set up dependencies.

## Configuration
"

[Continue]

Compose generates:
"Create a .env file in the root directory with the following
variables:
- DATABASE_URL: Your database connection string
- API_KEY: Your API authentication key
- PORT: The port to run the server (default: 3000)

Copy .env.example as a template..."

Smart Suggestions

Contextual Awareness

Compose understands the context of what you're writing:

  • Work item type influences suggestions
  • Project context shapes terminology
  • Previous content informs continuation

Template Recognition

When writing common content types, Compose recognizes patterns:

  • Bug reports get troubleshooting sections
  • Features get acceptance criteria
  • Documentation gets structure

Writing Tips with Compose

Start with Keywords

Give Compose clear direction:

  • ✅ "Write a bug report for login timeout with steps to reproduce"
  • ❌ "Write something about the bug"

Iterate and Refine

Use multiple passes:

  1. Generate initial content
  2. Expand key sections
  3. Rephrase for tone
  4. Summarize if too long

Combine with Templates

Use Compose alongside templates:

  1. Apply a template for structure
  2. Use Compose to fill in specific sections
  3. Refine the generated content

Compose for Different Content Types

Technical Documentation

Prompt: "Write API documentation for the /users endpoint
including request/response examples"

Compose generates properly formatted API docs with
code examples, parameters, and response schemas.

User Stories

Prompt: "Write user stories for a shopping cart feature"

Compose generates:
- As a customer, I want to add items to my cart so I can purchase multiple products
- As a customer, I want to update quantities so I can adjust my order
- As a customer, I want to remove items so I can change my mind

Release Notes

Prompt: "Write release notes for the features completed in Sprint 5"

Compose generates formatted release notes with
feature descriptions, improvements, and bug fixes.

Pro Tips

Be Specific

The more detail you provide, the better the output:

  • Include context about your project
  • Mention the audience
  • Specify the tone (technical, casual, formal)

Review and Edit

Compose provides a starting point — always review:

  • Verify technical accuracy
  • Adjust to match your voice
  • Add project-specific details

Save Prompts

If you find prompts that work well:

  • Save them for reuse
  • Share with your team
  • Build a prompt library

Use for Drafts

Compose is great for overcoming blank page syndrome:

  • Generate a first draft quickly
  • Edit and refine from there
  • Focus your energy on improving, not starting

Key Takeaways

  • Plane Compose is available in work items, pages, and comments
  • Generate content from prompts and outlines
  • Refine existing content: rephrase, expand, summarize, continue
  • Compose understands context and adapts suggestions
  • Be specific in prompts for better results
  • Always review and refine AI-generated content
  • Use Compose to start drafts and overcome blank page syndrome

Course Complete!

Congratulations! You've completed Plane 102 — AI + Agents. You now understand:

  • AI Sidecar for contextual assistance
  • AI Actions for creating and modifying items
  • AI Apps for extended capabilities
  • Slack AI for in-chat interactions
  • Compose for content generation and refinement

What's Next?

Ready to scale your project management? Continue to:

Next Course: Plane 201 — The Growth

Explore advanced features for larger teams and complex projects.

Plane University