diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3cbac56e2e629fcbc4c0c1e4ea316cf5c7f46a5a..1ca7624cc9d5b627302181ca2c729d14249bab9e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 
 - Inject remote geojson schema definitions
 - Use geojson Polygon instead of region_schema
+- Refactored planning_configuration message definition
+  - Remove region_of_interest and exclusion_zones 
+  - Add primitives array of classified geojson Features
 - Upgraded openapi-spec-validator to latest release (0.7.1)
 - Upgraded openapi-schema-validator to latest release (0.6.2)
 
diff --git a/examples/autonomy_engine_adapter/planning_configuration.json b/examples/autonomy_engine_adapter/planning_configuration.json
index 222c3f4a6ece9ac2ddc7ee2c24a8ba98ed5487c5..a47aade99924cf2395d1de9715b5959cd4b1cc68 100644
--- a/examples/autonomy_engine_adapter/planning_configuration.json
+++ b/examples/autonomy_engine_adapter/planning_configuration.json
@@ -11,62 +11,80 @@
   "payload":{
     "message_type": "planning_configuration",
     "planning_config_ID": 1,
-    "exclusion_zones": [
+    "primitives": [
       {
-        "type": "Polygon", 
-        "coordinates": [
-          [
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
+        "instruction": "stay_outside",
+        "feature": {
+          "type": "Feature",
+          "properties": {
+            "name": "The Rock",
+            "type": "exclusion_zone"
+          },
+          "geometry": {
+            "type": "Polygon", 
+            "coordinates": [
+              [
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ]
+              ]
             ]
-          ]
-        ]
-      }
-    ],
-    "region_of_interest": [
+          }
+        }
+      },
       {
-        "type": "Polygon", 
-        "coordinates": [
-          [
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
+        "instruction": "stay_inside",
+        "feature": {
+          "type": "Feature",
+          "properties": {
+            "name": "Survey Zone Charlie",
+            "type": "operating area"
+          },
+          "geometry": {
+            "type": "Polygon", 
+            "coordinates": [
+              [
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ]
+              ]
             ]
-          ]
-        ]
+          }
+        }
       }
     ],   
     "squads": [
diff --git a/examples/gui_adapter/planning_configuration.json b/examples/gui_adapter/planning_configuration.json
index 5ce2216b7fdeabbbc140e5ee7577f789a89e90eb..cc3188edbaaf793d1c23a397eb8589e5b6dfdc73 100644
--- a/examples/gui_adapter/planning_configuration.json
+++ b/examples/gui_adapter/planning_configuration.json
@@ -11,62 +11,80 @@
   "payload":{
     "message_type": "planning_configuration",
     "planning_config_ID": 1,
-    "exclusion_zones": [
+    "primitives": [
       {
-        "type": "Polygon", 
-        "coordinates": [
-          [
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
+        "instruction": "stay_outside",
+        "feature": {
+          "type": "Feature",
+          "properties": {
+            "name": "The Rock",
+            "type": "exclusion_zone"
+          },
+          "geometry": {
+            "type": "Polygon", 
+            "coordinates": [
+              [
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ]
+              ]
             ]
-          ]
-        ]
-      }
-    ],
-    "region_of_interest": [
+          }
+        }
+      },
       {
-        "type": "Polygon", 
-        "coordinates": [
-          [
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.33820949229701
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.143667777943875,
-              50.34173405662855
-            ],
-            [
-              -4.1777839187560915,
-              50.34173405662855
+        "instruction": "stay_inside",
+        "feature": {
+          "type": "Feature",
+          "properties": {
+            "name": "Survey Zone Charlie",
+            "type": "operating area"
+          },
+          "geometry": {
+            "type": "Polygon", 
+            "coordinates": [
+              [
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.33820949229701
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.143667777943875,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ],
+                [
+                  -4.1777839187560915,
+                  50.34173405662855
+                ]
+              ]
             ]
-          ]
-        ]
+          }
+        }
       }
     ],   
     "squads": [
diff --git a/formats/planning_configuration.py b/formats/planning_configuration.py
index 53a44d697c4a7ae72c1a36aebb456db335f4868c..f2a7c2a4e00a66c0a540d3ad0e7ad9d8156f86a8 100644
--- a/formats/planning_configuration.py
+++ b/formats/planning_configuration.py
@@ -214,6 +214,30 @@ squad_metadata_schema = {
     ],
 }
 
+primitive_schema = {
+    "type": "object",
+    "properties": {
+        "instruction": {
+            "type": "string",
+            "enum": [
+                "stay_inside", 
+                "stay_outside", 
+                "navigate_to",
+                "follow",
+                "repeat",
+                "cover",
+            ],
+            "description": "How the associated feature should be used",
+        },
+        "feature": {
+            "$ref": "https://geojson.org/schema/Feature.json",
+        },
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "feature"
+    ]
+}
+
 planning_configuration_schema = {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
@@ -229,19 +253,10 @@ planning_configuration_schema = {
             + " configuration plan",
             "example": 3,
         },
-        "region_of_interest": {
-            "type": "array",
-            "items": {
-                "$ref": "https://geojson.org/schema/Polygon.json",
-            },
-            "description": "Region of interest for the entire operation",
-        },
-        "exclusion_zones": {
+        "primitives": {
             "type": "array",
-            "items": {
-                "$ref": "https://geojson.org/schema/Polygon.json",
-            },
-            "description": "Exclusion zones for all platforms",
+            "items": primitive_schema,
+            "description": "Specification primitives",
         },
         "squads": {
             "type": "array",
@@ -252,7 +267,6 @@ planning_configuration_schema = {
         "message_type",
         "planning_config_ID",
         "squads",
-        "exclusion_zones",
-        "region_of_interest",
+        "primitives",
     ],
 }
diff --git a/project/soar/swagger.json b/project/soar/swagger.json
index e73d62e51eb3f0bad0fde2b64b088f5be9ff4b0e..b61da6349759962020675fdcedfcbdc32c563120 100644
--- a/project/soar/swagger.json
+++ b/project/soar/swagger.json
@@ -1696,13 +1696,6 @@
       },
       "planning_configuration": {
         "properties": {
-          "exclusion_zones": {
-            "description": "Exclusion zones for all platforms",
-            "items": {
-              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/geojson.org.schema.Polygon.json"
-            },
-            "type": "array"
-          },
           "message_type": {
             "description": "Type of message",
             "enum": [
@@ -1716,10 +1709,30 @@
             "example": 3,
             "type": "integer"
           },
-          "region_of_interest": {
-            "description": "Region of interest for the entire operation",
+          "primitives": {
+            "description": "Specification primitives",
             "items": {
-              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/geojson.org.schema.Polygon.json"
+              "properties": {
+                "feature": {
+                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/geojson.org.schema.Feature.json"
+                },
+                "instruction": {
+                  "description": "How the associated feature should be used",
+                  "enum": [
+                    "stay_inside",
+                    "stay_outside",
+                    "navigate_to",
+                    "follow",
+                    "repeat",
+                    "cover"
+                  ],
+                  "type": "string"
+                }
+              },
+              "required": [
+                "feature"
+              ],
+              "type": "object"
             },
             "type": "array"
           },
@@ -1938,8 +1951,7 @@
           "message_type",
           "planning_config_ID",
           "squads",
-          "exclusion_zones",
-          "region_of_interest"
+          "primitives"
         ],
         "type": "object"
       },