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Ideation domain specialist: Lean Canvas assembly, SPEC decomposition list extraction, and Diverge-Converge pipeline for product proposal generation. Use during /moai brain Phase 2 (Diverge), Phase 4 (Converge), and Phase 6 (Proposal).
when_to_use
Use during /moai brain ideation: Lean Canvas assembly, SPEC decomposition-list extraction, diverge/converge brainstorming, proposal generation, and structured idea exploration.
Thin orchestrator for the Diverge-Converge ideation pipeline. Delegates creative framework execution to moai-foundation-thinking and adds artifact-shaping logic specific to the brain workflow: Lean Canvas section assembly and SPEC Decomposition List extraction.
Quick Reference
Core responsibilities:
Phase 2 (Diverge): Generate 5-15 divergent concept angles for the idea
Phase 4 (Converge): Assemble Lean Canvas into ideation.md with all 9 blocks
Phase 6 (Proposal): Produce proposal.md with SPEC Decomposition Candidates section
Competitor gap angle (what existing tools fail to do)
Adjacent market angle (related problem space)
For each angle, produce a one-sentence concept label.
Cluster related angles by affinity (max 5 clusters).
Output
In-memory concept map. NOT persisted to disk at this phase — convergence in Phase 4 determines what is written.
Language Neutrality Rules
[HARD] During divergence, do NOT anchor any angle to a specific programming language or framework. Describe capabilities, not implementations:
Correct: "real-time collaborative editing engine"
Wrong: "Node.js WebSocket server with React frontend"
Phase 4: Converge — Lean Canvas Assembly
Input
Phase 2 diverged concept map
User's original idea
Optional: brand context from .moai/project/brand/brand-voice.md
Process
Invoke moai-foundation-thinking Diverge-Converge framework (Converge phase) to reduce 5-15 angles to the single most defensible product concept.
Then assemble the Lean Canvas.
Lean Canvas — 9 Blocks
Populate each block for the converged concept. Every block MUST be present, even if sparse. Empty blocks get placeholder: [TBD — to be refined with user research].
## Lean Canvas
### Problem
[Top 3 problems this product solves for the target customer]
### Customer Segments
[Specific user personas — who has the problem most acutely?]
### Unique Value Proposition
[Single, clear, compelling message — why this over alternatives]
### Solution
[Top 3 features / capabilities that address the problems]
### Channels
[How the product reaches customers: direct, marketplace, viral, partnerships]
### Revenue Streams
[How value is monetized: subscription, freemium, per-use, enterprise license, API]
### Cost Structure
[Main cost drivers: infrastructure, people, acquisition, support]
### Key Metrics
[The numbers that tell you the product is succeeding — leading and lagging indicators]
### Unfair Advantage
[What is genuinely hard for competitors to copy? Network effect, data, brand, IP, team]
Language Neutrality in Solution Block
[HARD] The Solution block describes WHAT the product does, not HOW it is built:
Correct: "High-throughput transformation engine that processes 10K events/sec"
Wrong: "Python Pandas pipeline running on Airflow DAGs"
Output
Write ideation.md to .moai/brain/IDEA-NNN/:
# Idea: {user's original idea, verbatim}*Session: {date}*## Lean Canvas
[9 blocks as specified above]
Phase 5 Append: Critical Evaluation
After Phase 5 executes (managed by moai-foundation-thinking critical-evaluation.md), append the evaluation report to the existing ideation.md:
## Evaluation Report### Strengths
[Evidence-backed strengths from critical evaluation]
### Weaknesses
[Identified gaps, assumptions, and risks]
### First Principles Validation
[First principles breakdown per moai-foundation-thinking/modules/first-principles.md]
### Verdict
[Proceed / Proceed with caveats / Revisit / Abandon — with rationale]
Phase 6: Proposal — SPEC Decomposition List
Input
ideation.md with Lean Canvas + Evaluation Report
User's confirmation to proceed
Process
Translate the converged product concept into actionable SPEC candidates. Each candidate represents a discrete, independently-implementable unit of work.
SPEC ID Naming Convention
[HARD] SPEC domain labels MUST be generic capability terms, never technology/language names:
Correct (capability-based)
Wrong (technology-based)
SPEC-AUTH-001
SPEC-OAUTH2-001
SPEC-API-001
SPEC-FASTAPI-001
SPEC-PIPELINE-001
SPEC-AIRFLOW-001
SPEC-UI-001
SPEC-REACT-001
SPEC-DB-001
SPEC-POSTGRES-001
SPEC-NOTIFY-001
SPEC-FIREBASE-001
SPEC-SEARCH-001
SPEC-ELASTICSEARCH-001
Decomposition Heuristics
Suggest 2-10 SPEC candidates. Each candidate should:
Represent a cohesive capability boundary (not too granular, not too broad)
Be independently implementable without hard dependencies on sibling SPECs (except declared dependencies)
Represent 1-3 weeks of focused work (typical SPEC scope)
Address one of the Lean Canvas Solution blocks or a key infrastructure concern
If the idea is very small (single capability), 2-3 candidates is appropriate.
If the idea is large, suggest 7-10 candidates and note that ordering matters.
Edge Case: 0 or 1 candidates
If the idea seems too atomic for SPEC decomposition:
0 candidates: Add placeholder section: ### SPEC Decomposition Candidates with note "Idea scope is atomic — consider direct /moai plan instead of /moai brain decomposition"
1 candidate: Acceptable, no special handling required
Output
Write proposal.md to .moai/brain/IDEA-NNN/:
# Proposal: {product name or concept label}*Generated: {date} | Idea: IDEA-NNN*## Product Summary
{2-3 sentence summary derived from Lean Canvas UVP + Solution blocks}
## Target User
{From Lean Canvas Customer Segments block}
## Core Problems Solved
{From Lean Canvas Problem block, formatted as numbered list}
## Proposed Solution
{From Lean Canvas Solution block — capabilities only, no tech stack}
## SPEC Decomposition Candidates
{2-10 bullets, each matching the canonical grammar below}
- SPEC-{DOMAIN}-001: {one-line scope description}
- SPEC-{DOMAIN}-002: {one-line scope description}
...
## Recommended Execution Order
{Numbered list of SPEC IDs in dependency order, with brief rationale}
## Out of Scope (v0.1)
{Explicit exclusions deferred to later SPECs or a v0.2 phase}
## Notes
{Any caveats, open questions, or assumptions from the evaluation}
Grammar Invariant (ANCHOR)
The ### SPEC Decomposition Candidates section MUST follow this exact grammar:
- SPEC-{DOMAIN}-{NUM}: {scope}
Where:
{DOMAIN} is uppercase alphanumeric (e.g., AUTH, API, UI, DB, NOTIFY)
{NUM} is zero-padded 3 digits (e.g., 001, 002, 010)
{scope} is a plain English one-line description (no backticks, no nested lists)
One bullet per line, no sub-bullets
The /moai plan --from-brain parser uses this regex: ^- SPEC-[A-Z][A-Z0-9]+-[0-9]{3}: .+$
Any bullet NOT matching this pattern is excluded from the suggestion list (surfaced as a warning, not an error).
Works Well With
moai-foundation-thinking: Diverge-Converge, Critical Evaluation, First Principles modules
moai-domain-research: Feeds research.md content into Converge phase context
moai-domain-design-handoff: Consumes proposal.md product summary for prompt.md context section
moai-workflow-brain: Orchestrates this skill across phases 2, 4, 5 (append), and 6
Common Rationalizations
Rationalization
Reality
"The user mentioned Python, so SPEC-PYTHON-001 is clearer"
Technology names in SPEC IDs create language lock-in. Use SPEC-API-001 — the technology choice happens at /moai plan time.
"The Solution block needs a tech stack to be concrete"
Solution describes WHAT the system does. HOW is deferred to architecture phase. "Processes 10K events/sec" is concrete without naming a framework.
"5 SPEC candidates is too few for a complex idea"
Start with 5-7 high-level candidates. /moai plan will decompose each one further if needed.
"I should skip the Lean Canvas for a simple idea"
Every brain invocation produces a Lean Canvas. The Customer Segments block alone is worth the exercise — it forces explicit user definition.
Verification
Phase 2 diverge produced 5-15 distinct angles (not minor variations of the same angle)
Phase 4 Lean Canvas has all 9 blocks present (none omitted or collapsed)
Solution block contains no technology/framework names (capability-only language)
