brainstorming

name	brainstorming
description	MANDATORY — STOP and activate BEFORE writing ANY code for new features, significant changes, or multi-file modifications. You MUST ask clarifying questions, explore alternatives, and get explicit design approval first. Do NOT skip this step. Do NOT start coding without approval.

Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Adapted from superpowers:brainstorming

The Iron Rule

NEVER start coding before the design is approved.

Even "simple" changes benefit from 2 minutes of design thinking.

Anti-Pattern: "This Is Too Simple To Need A Design"

If you're thinking this, you're wrong. Every feature that touches multiple files, modifies data flow, or affects UX deserves a brief design.

The Process

1. Understand the Request

• What problem does this solve?
• Who needs it? (the user managing Kyberwave library)
• What's the current workaround?

2. Ask Clarifying Questions

• Don't assume. Ask about edge cases, scope, and priorities
• Example: "Should this work for both album and staging tracks?"
• Example: "What should happen when the LLM API is down?"

3. Explore Alternatives

• Present 2-3 approaches with trade-offs
• Consider: complexity, performance, future extensibility
• Reference existing patterns in OAC Studio

4. Present Design in Digestible Chunks

Break the design into sections short enough to actually read:

• Data model changes (if any) — new columns, new tables
• API changes — new endpoints, modified endpoints
• UI changes — new pages, modified pages, new components
• Integration points — how it connects to existing features

5. Validate

• Get explicit approval before proceeding
• If the user has concerns, iterate on the design

After the Design

1. Save design document to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<feature>-design.md
2. Use the writing-plans skill to create an implementation plan
3. Execute the plan

OAC Studio Design Checklist

• Does this affect the database schema? → Plan migration in database.py
• Does this need a new API endpoint? → Which router? (library, staging, playlists, mv_maker, prompt_gen)
• Does this need a new frontend page? → Register in router.js, add nav link in index.html
• Does it affect the audio player? → Check player.js integration
• Does it need LLM integration? → Which models? Check llm_providers.py
• Does it interact with the file system? → Windows path handling, Google Drive latency
• Does it affect existing features? → Review TECHNICAL.md for dependencies
• Is it in the ROADMAP.md? → Reference the relevant phase/item

Red Flags

Thought	Reality
"This is just a simple change"	Simple changes break complex systems. Design first.
"I already know what to do"	Knowing ≠ designing. Write it down.
"The user just wants it done fast"	Fast without design = rework later.
"Let me just start coding"	STOP. Design first, always.