ideate

name

ideate

description

Structured idea generation for a project or a blank-slate problem — ideas worth pursuing, not the first one that sticks. Grounds in the current repo (AGENTS.md/README) or a freeform problem, then diverges across named lenses (adjacent user, removed constraint, inversion, and more) so a run yields range, not ten variations of one idea. Fights premature convergence — nothing judged until the divergence quota is met — then verdicts each idea EXPLORE/PARK/DROP, where DROP is cheap. EXPLORE items become seeds for priorart (is it novel?) or feature (build it); verdicts persist in out/ideate/tracker.md so repeat runs open with what's new. Keyless. Use to generate, brainstorm, or explore ideas or new directions for a project or problem — e.g. "/ideate", "/ideate <topic>", "brainstorm features for X". For whether an idea already exists use priorart; for competitor features use scout; for choosing between named options use verdict.

ideate — diverge before you converge

/ideate — generate ideas for THIS repo (reads its AGENTS.md/README) /ideate <topic|problem> — generate ideas for an arbitrary problem, no repo needed

Answer one question: what could this become that isn't obvious yet — and which of those directions actually deserves effort? Both halves matter. A session that only sprays ideas is a whiteboard; one that judges before it has range is just the first idea wearing a verdict. The deliverable is a short list of directions each carrying its own reason to live or die.

The enemy the whole skill is built against is premature convergence — latching onto the first plausible idea and spending the session polishing it. Every step below exists to hold divergence open long enough to be worth converging on.

Step 0 — Frame the ground

You cannot diverge from nothing; fix a starting point first.

• With a repo (/ideate alone): read AGENTS.md (the map skill writes it), README, and the top-reacted open issues. Distill the project's and its — the thing it does that alternatives don't, which every later verdict is judged against.