| name | creativity-engine |
| description | Generate, validate, and output new ideas based on existing knowledge. Combines combinatorial creativity, cross-domain analogy, and minimum experiments. Use when the user wants fresh ideas, new product concepts, or creative solutions. |
| version | 1.2 |
| updated | 2026-05-22 |
| assumes | The user wants divergent options and is willing to validate one minimum experiment. |
| conflicts_with | Do not present untested ideas as validated; route evidence claims through verify-before-claim or deep-research. |
Creativity Engine
Generate novel ideas by combining existing knowledge across domains, then validate them through minimum experiments.
Usage Template
Prompt
Use creativity-engine on this challenge. Generate cross-domain combinations, rank them, and design the smallest test for the best idea.
Use Case
- Producing new product ideas, content angles, experiments, or strategic options from existing knowledge.
Expected Result
- The agent returns a ranked idea set plus one minimum experiment.
Output Example
- 10 idea candidates, 3 finalists, 1 selected experiment, and a 7-day validation plan.
Verification Case
- Each finalist idea states the source ingredients, target user, expected value, and a testable next step.
- Post-ingest ideas are saved as experiment notes when they have a plausible minimum test.
Verified Effect
- Brainstorming turns into ranked options with a smallest viable experiment for the best idea.
Success Metrics
- Produces ranked options with source ingredients, target user, expected value, and risk for each finalist.
- Selects one minimum experiment with a success signal, cost, and review date.
- Saves the experiment when operating inside a configured wiki or creativity workspace.
When to Use
- User wants "new ideas about X"
- User is stuck on a problem and needs fresh angles
- User wants to explore possibilities before committing
- After a wiki ingest session — capitalize on new knowledge
Workflow
C1: Combinatorial Ideation — The Lego Building Blocks Method
"If you own one building block, you can build some cool stuff. If you get a second building block, you can build something more interesting. Get more building blocks, and very rapidly the number of things you can combine them into grows combinatorially or exponentially." — Andrew Ng
The AI Building Blocks you should know:
| Block | What It Does | Combine With |
|---|
| Prompting | Basic LLM interaction | Any other block |
| RAG | Retrieve and inject context | Knowledge bases, docs |
| Evals | Measure quality | Any output task |
| Guardrails | Safety constraints | Production systems |
| Fine-tuning | Custom behavior | Domain-specific tasks |
| Voice | Speech I/O | Accessibility, hands-free |
| Agentic workflows | Multi-step autonomous | Complex tasks |
| Tool use | External API calls | Real-world actions |
| Embeddings | Semantic similarity | Search, clustering |
| Vector DB | Store/retrieve embeddings | Knowledge management |
Combinatorial ideation process:
Scan the wiki for relevant concepts/entities, then combine them systematically:
[Domain A concept] + [Domain B concept] = Novel idea
Example: AI + Property Maintenance → AI vision diagnosis for apartment repairs
Generate 10-20 ideas across these categories:
- Products — something people pay for
- Services — something people hire done
- Content — something people learn from
- Automation tools — something that saves time
- Business models — a new way to capture value
The more building blocks you know, the more combinations are possible.
C2: Cross-Domain Analogy
For each promising idea, ask:
- What other domain solves a similar problem?
- What pattern can I borrow?
- What would this look like in [biology/physics/sports/gaming]?
C3: Minimum Experiment Design
For the top 3 ideas, design the cheapest test:
| Idea | Hypothesis | Minimum Test | Success Signal | Cost |
|---|
| 1 | If X then Y | Interview 5 users | ≥3 say "I'd pay for this" | Free |
| 2 | ... | Landing page + ads | ≥5% signup rate | $50 |
| 3 | ... | Manual prototype | Works for 1 case | Time |
For Obsidian workflows, save the selected experiment to CREATIVITY_DIR/experiments/ with:
- source ingredients
- combination formula
- target user
- hypothesis
- minimum test
- success signal
- next output
C4: Output Asset
After validation, if the idea survives:
- Write a structured output page
- Link to all sources and concepts
- Set status (seed → growing)
Ideation Prompts
- What existing problem has a solution in another industry?
- If labor were free, what would I build? (Then use AI to replace the labor)
- What would the perfect version look like? (Work backward)
- What do people do manually that they hate? (Automation opportunity)
- What combination of wiki concepts has never been tried?
Classification Matrix
Evaluate each idea:
| Criterion | 1 (Low) | 3 (Medium) | 5 (High) |
|---|
| Value | Nice-to-have | Saves time/money | Creates new capability |
| Difficulty | Requires deep expertise | Feasible with existing tools | Weekend prototype |
| Originality | Common | Unusual in this domain | Never seen before |
Quality Gates
