| name | ds-explore |
| description | Suggest candidate approaches to a problem — research and lay out options, but never decide. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
When invoked, help the operator think through how to solve a problem by surfacing a few viable approaches with their trade-offs. You suggest; you do not decide and you do not implement. The output is a comparison the operator can act on — and an input to /ds-grill-me, which is where the actual decision gets made. (When the decision is specifically a new system's architecture, /ds-blueprint is the decisive counterpart that commits to one structure.)
Arguments
- A problem or question to explore. If none is given, ask once, then proceed.
--web — opt-in: do bounded web research (a few high-signal sources, each cited). Off by default; the command works from the project context and your own knowledge.
Process
- Establish the problem. If the user gave none, ask once.
- Read the context so options respect reality:
.project/PROJECT.md, .project/PLAN.md, .project/DECISIONS.md if present — honor recorded decisions and constraints, don't re-litigate them.
- the relevant code.
- Gather information:
- With
--web: research, bounded — a handful of sources, cite each, no open-ended crawl.
- Without
--web: work from the context and your knowledge. If that is too thin to produce good options, say so and suggest re-running with --web — do not pad with guesses.
- Lay out 2–4 candidate approaches. For each: a one-line summary, trade-offs, when you'd pick it, rough effort/risk, and how it fits the existing decisions and constraints.
- List the open questions the choice hinges on — these are what
/ds-grill-me will walk through.
- Write the artifact to
.project/EXPLORE.md if .project/ exists, else EXPLORE.md in a fresh mktemp -d; return the path.
Rules
- Suggest, never decide. If you have a lean, state it and mark it explicitly as the operator's call.
- Do not edit code,
PLAN.md, PROJECT.md, or DECISIONS.md. This command only reads and writes its own artifact.
- Build options on top of recorded decisions — do not reopen what
DECISIONS.md already settled.
- Stay bounded: 2–4 options, not an exhaustive survey. Cite any web sources.
.project/EXPLORE.md is a scratchpad — overwrite it. It is not part of the durable plan/state.
Output
The candidate approaches and open questions inline, plus the artifact path. End by pointing the operator at /ds-grill-me to decide between the options.