| name | idea |
| description | Turn a rough idea into a decision-complete design brief before it becomes a sprint. Spins up a deep planning architect (on fable) that researches best practices, compares real approaches, challenges the idea's assumptions, and recommends the simplest thing that works — then hands the brief off to /plan-sprint for ticketing. Use when the user says "/idea", "I have an idea", "think this through", "help me scope this out", or wants a solid plan before committing to build. |
| argument-hint | [your idea / rough concept] |
/idea — a rough idea → a solid, decision-complete brief
This is the front of the loop. Before work gets scoped into a sprint, one idea gets
thought all the way through: researched, stress-tested, and reduced to the simplest
shape that actually solves the problem. You (the main loop) frame the idea and own the
write-down; the idea-architect agent (deep planning, on fable) does the thinking. The
output is a brief solid enough that /plan-sprint can scope it without re-deciding
anything load-bearing.
Operating principle — collaborative, not autonomous
Unlike /work, this skill is a dialogue. It's the user's idea, and the goal is a plan
they trust. So: think hard, present the brief, and iterate with the user before writing
anything down. The one thing the architect must not do is hedge — it makes the real design
decisions and defends them; the user is refining a concrete plan, not answering a
questionnaire.
1. Frame the idea + gather context (you, before the architect)
- Capture the idea from the argument. If it's a one-liner, restate what you understand it
to mean in a sentence and proceed (don't interrogate the user — that's the architect's
job to resolve from the repo).
- Read
CLAUDE.md, the README, and any relevant product/architecture docs and
docs/adr/ so the brief is grounded in this repo's reality, constraints, and
direction. git log --oneline -20 for recent context.
- Note the release model (this framework assumes a tagged merge to
main) so the
plan lands shippable.
2. Spin up the deep planning architect
Dispatch one idea-architect agent with the framed idea + the context you gathered.
It researches best practices and prior art (WebSearch), lays out 2–3 genuinely different
approaches, challenges the idea's assumptions, recommends the simplest approach that
works, resolves the load-bearing decisions, and returns a decision-complete brief. It
writes no files and cuts no tickets — it returns the brief to you.
(If the idea-architect agent isn't available — e.g. running outside the plugin — fall
back to a general planning agent with the same brief and the same "research, compare
approaches, challenge assumptions, be decision-complete, bias to simplicity" instructions.)
3. Present the brief and iterate (the human loop)
Show the user the brief — lead with the recommended approach and why, the key
decisions, and anything the architect pushed back on (assumptions that don't hold, a
simpler thing to build instead). Then work with them: if they disagree or add constraints,
re-run or refine with the architect until the plan is one they'd stake the sprint on. This
back-and-forth is the value of the skill; don't rush to write-down.
4. Write it down (automatic) + hand off to /plan-sprint
As soon as the brief is settled, write it to docs/ideas/<slug>.md automatically
(create docs/ideas/ if absent) — no separate confirmation for the write itself; the
brief is a durable, low-risk artifact and capturing it is the whole point. Then:
- Record ADRs. Any load-bearing decision the brief settles gets an ADR in
docs/adr/
(match the repo's existing format/numbering; create docs/adr/0001-<slug>.md if the
repo keeps none yet). Big decisions live in the repo, not just a brief.
- Offer the handoff: ask whether to run
/plan-sprint now with the brief's
HANDOFF TO PLAN-SPRINT framing as the theme. If yes, invoke it; if not, tell the user
the brief is saved and /plan-sprint <theme> will pick it up later.
Guardrails
/idea produces a brief and ADRs — no tickets, no code. Ticketing is /plan-sprint;
building is /work. Keep the stages separate.
- Bias to simplicity: the best outcome is often a smaller build than the idea proposed,
or a well-argued "don't build this." Surface that plainly rather than dressing up a
faithful plan for the wrong thing.
- Don't skip the human loop — this is the one skill in the set that's meant to be
collaborative. Write the brief down only once the user is satisfied.