The Plane handbook

Why we're here

We are building the system the world runs its work on: the thing teams open every morning and trust to hold their decisions, their commitments, and the coordination that keeps everyone pointed the same way. What we are after is easy to state and hard to earn. As AI takes on more of the work, people stay in command of where it is headed, and the system holding a team's work belongs to that team, fully and for good.

Everyone who runs on Plane is betting their coordination on what we ship. That sets the bar here. The rest of this handbook is how we try to meet it: how we make decisions, what we expect from each other, and what you can expect from us. If something in here is contradicted by what someone says in a Slack thread, the handbook wins until the handbook gets updated.

We keep it public for three reasons. Candidates can read it and decide whether Plane is for them before they apply. The team can point to it instead of explaining themselves twice. And we cannot quietly slip when the way we work is on the open internet.

For what Plane is and who runs on it, see About Plane. For why now, see our mission.

Who this is for

• If you are thinking of joining Plane, start with Values and AI-first. They will tell you whether the operating model fits how you want to work.
• If you have just joined, read it front to back over your first week. Most of what you need is here.
• If you are on the team already, use the sidebar or search to look up specifics.

What is inside

• Welcome covers our mission, our values, and how we think about AI.
• How we work covers communication, decisions, and the rhythms of working together.
• Careers covers hiring, onboarding, and growth.
• Policies covers time off, health insurance, benefits, mental health, and expenses.

A living document

This handbook lives in version control. Anyone at Plane can open a PR to change it. If something is wrong, unclear, or out of date, do not wait for someone else to fix it. Fix it.