name	side-quests
version	1.0.2
description	Full creative synthesis — combine song, visual concept, and TED talk from a single technical insight
author	Live Neon <hello@liveneon.ai>
homepage	https://github.com/live-neon/skills/tree/main/creative/side-quests
repository	leegitw/side-quests
license	MIT
tags	["creative","synthesis","songwriting","storytelling","ted-talk","visual-guide","reflection","knowledge-transfer","suno","learning"]
layer	creative
status	active
alias	sq
user-invocable	true
emoji	🎭

side-quests (遊)

Full creative synthesis that combines all three creative artifacts from a single technical insight: a Suno-ready song, a visual concept guide, and a full TED talk.

Trigger: 明示呼出 (explicit invocation) or when deep technical insight emerges

Core insight: "Context without action is paralysis. Action without context is chaos. Side quests are context made actionable through creative synthesis."

Installation

openclaw install leegitw/side-quests

Dependencies: None required, but works with component skills:

leegitw/insight-song — Song component (can be used standalone)
leegitw/visual-concept — Visual guide component (can be used standalone)
leegitw/ted-talk — TED talk component (can be used standalone)

Data handling: This skill synthesizes content from user-supplied input or the current conversation context (default). It does NOT read files from the workspace or access project artifacts directly. Results are returned to the invoking agent, who decides how to use them.

What This Solves

Technical insights fade with context compression. Multi-format creative synthesis provides reinforcement through multiple channels:

Song — Audio reinforcement, emotional arc
Visual concept — Symbolic representation, visual metaphor
TED talk — Comprehensive narrative, concrete examples

The insight: Creation forces synthesis. Making creative artifacts about a concept reveals gaps that passive understanding cannot. Audio + visual + narrative = deeper learning.

Usage

/sq [topic]

Or use individual components:

/song [topic]    # Just the song
/vc [topic]      # Just the visual concept
/ted [topic]     # Just the TED talk

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
topic	No	Topic focus (default: synthesize current conversation)

Pre-Requisites

Before creating a side quest, ensure:

Sufficient conversation depth — Surface-level summaries don't make good artifacts
Clear narrative arc — Problem → Discovery → Solution → Impact
Main work documented — Save current progress first if mid-task

Context Understanding Checklist

You must be able to answer:

Question	What It Means
Core insight?	Not "we talked about X" but "we discovered X solves Y"
Problem solved?	The pain point, not just the topic
Why, not just what?	The reasoning, not just the outcome
Substantial depth?	Teaches something new, not standard practice

Red Flags (Don't Create)

Surface-level summary of conversation
Don't understand why a decision was made
Insight is just standard practice
No clear narrative arc
Would be padding with generic content

Output Structure

Each side quest produces a single markdown file with three sections:

1. Song (Suno.ai Format)

## Song

**Title**: [Song Name]

**Suno.ai Style Tags**:
[300-500 characters describing musical style]

[Verse 1]
[Lyrics]

[Chorus]
[Lyrics]

[...]

Song Rules:

Tell a story with emotional arc
Technical but singable
Visual imagery (for audio+visual)
NO literal specifics — metaphor and symbol only
NO artist names in lyrics or style tags

2. Visual Concept Guide

## Visual Concept Guide

**Core Visual Concept**: [Primary metaphor]

### Visual Themes & Imagery
[3-7 major themes]

### Symbolic Visual Elements
[Technical concepts as visual symbols]

### Emotional Color Arc
[Color palette evolution]

### Motion & Rhythm
[Movement patterns]

### Key Visual Contrasts
[Before/after, chaos/order]

Visual Guide Rules:

Conceptual inspiration, NOT shot list
NO specific durations or camera angles
Provide creative direction, not constraints

3. TED Talk (Full Length)

## TED Talk: "[Talk Title]"

### Opening (0:00-2:00)
[Hook with relatable problem]

### Setup: Why This Matters (2:00-6:00)
[Why this matters, stakes]

### The Problem (6:00-12:00)
[Deep dive into the pain point]

### Core Concept (12:00-25:00)
[Explain thoroughly]

### Real-World Examples (25:00-38:00)
[Concrete, specific details from context provided]

### Broader Implications (38:00-45:00)
[Connect to broader context]

### Closing (45:00-48:00)
[Call to action]

### Q&A Preparation (48:00-50:00)
[Address objections]

TED Talk Rules:

Full 40-50 minutes, NOT a summary
Ground in reality with specific details from provided context
Address likely objections in Q&A

Core Logic

Step 1: Synthesize Conversation

Read full conversation context
Identify key decisions, "aha" moments
Extract core insight or pattern

Step 2: Identify Narrative Arc

Element	Question
Problem	What was broken/painful?
Discovery	What did we learn?
Solution	What pattern emerged?
Impact	Why does this matter?

Step 3: Generate All Three Artifacts

The skill generates each component sequentially:

Song: Technical insight → emotional arc → Suno-ready lyrics
Visual Concept: Core metaphor → symbolic elements → color arc
TED Talk: Hook → explanation → examples → implications → Q&A

Step 4: Return Combined Artifact

Return the complete artifact (song + visual concept + TED talk) to the invoking agent.

Example

Input: Bootstrap Observability Insight

Context: Discovered reproduce-to-debug problem. Introduced Bootstrap → Learn → Enforce phases.

Narrative arc:

Problem: Debugging without reproduction is impossible
Discovery: Greenfield systems don't know what "normal" is
Solution: Bootstrap → Learn → Enforce phases
Impact: Debug with sight instead of in darkness

Output Summary

Song excerpt:

[Verse 1]
Three in the morning, the logs are all silent
System's on fire but the metrics don't know
Building in darkness, no baseline to measure
Can't debug what you've never seen before

Visual concept:

Core metaphor: Darkness giving way to illumination
Symbolic elements: Golden threads (trace IDs), Red fractures (errors)
Color arc: Deep blues → Warm golds → Bright clarity

TED talk opening:

"It's 3 AM. Your pager goes off. The system is on fire — users are complaining, something is clearly wrong. You pull up your logs and... nothing."

Integration

Layer: Creative
Depends on: None (standalone)
Components: insight-song, visual-concept, ted-talk
Complements: Observation workflows, plan documentation, knowledge capture

Component Skills

Use individual components when you only need one format:

Skill	Alias	Output
insight-song	`/song`	Suno-ready song
visual-concept	`/vc`	Visual concept guide
ted-talk	`/ted`	Full TED talk

Failure Modes

Condition	Behavior
Insufficient context	Ask clarifying questions first
No clear narrative arc	Decline, explain what's missing
Surface-level topic	Suggest deeper exploration first
Main work not documented	Prompt to save progress first

Security Considerations

Orchestration Note: This skill implements combined logic directly. It does NOT spawn or invoke other installed skills (insight-song, visual-concept, ted-talk). The component skill instructions are embedded inline within this skill.

Input sources:

User-supplied context (if provided)
Current conversation context (default)

What this skill does NOT do:

Read files from the workspace
Access project artifacts directly
Send data to external services
Call external APIs
Modify source code
Spawn other skills (all logic is inline)

Output behavior: This skill returns the combined artifact (song + visual concept + TED talk) directly to the invoking agent. The agent can then display, save, or pass the result to another skill as needed.

Note on TED talks: TED talks use concrete details from the context you provide. Review before sharing externally to ensure no sensitive information is included.

Provenance note: This skill is developed by Live Neon (https://github.com/live-neon/skills) and published to ClawHub under the leegitw account. Both refer to the same maintainer.

Quality Checklist

Can explain core insight in one sentence
Understand why, not just what
Song tells story with emotional arc
Visual guide is inspirational not prescriptive
TED talk is 40-50 minutes of substantial content
No filler or generic padding

Acceptance Criteria

/sq generates all three artifact types
Song formatted for Suno.ai (title, tags, sections)
Visual guide is conceptual, not prescriptive
TED talk is full length with concrete examples
Result returned to invoking agent
Individual components also available via /song, /vc, /ted

"The detours became destinations. The questions we didn't expect to ask. The patterns we found by paying attention to what emerged."

Part of the Live Neon Creative Suite.