deliberate

name	deliberate
description	Explore requirements and approaches through collaborative dialogue, capture the result in the backlogit stash, and create a linked deliberation artifact for later planning and harvest. Use when the user says 'deliberate', 'explore', 'think this through', 'what should we build', or 'help me think through'.
argument-hint	[feature idea or problem to explore]

Deliberate on a Feature or Improvement

Deliberation answers WHAT to build through collaborative dialogue. It precedes deeper planning work. The durable output is backlogit-native: a stash entry in .backlogit/stash.jsonl plus a linked deliberation artifact in .backlogit/queue so later harvest and planning flows can recover the full discussion.

Agent-Intercom Communication (NON-NEGOTIABLE)

Call ping at session start. If agent-intercom is reachable, broadcast at every step. If unreachable, warn the user that operator visibility is degraded.

Event	Level	Message prefix
Session start	info	[DELIBERATE] Starting: {topic}
Scope assessed	info	[DELIBERATE] Scope: {lightweight|standard|deep}
Learnings found	info	[DELIBERATE] Learnings researcher found {count} relevant solutions
Question asked	info	[DELIBERATE] Asking user: {question_summary}
Waiting for input	warning	[WAIT] Blocked on user response
Stash item created	success	[DELIBERATE] Stash created: {stash_id}
Deliberation created	success	[DELIBERATE] Deliberation created: {deliberation_id}
Session complete	success	[DELIBERATE] Complete: {topic}

Core Principles

1. Assess scope first -- Match ceremony to size and ambiguity of the work.
2. Be a thinking partner -- Suggest alternatives, challenge assumptions, explore what-ifs.
3. Resolve product decisions here -- User-facing behavior, scope boundaries, and success criteria belong in deliberation. Detailed implementation belongs in planning.
4. Keep implementation out -- Do not include libraries, schemas, endpoints, or code-level design unless the deliberation is inherently about a technical or architectural change.
5. Right-size the artifact -- Simple work gets a compact deliberation. Larger work gets a fuller one.
6. Apply YAGNI to carrying cost -- Prefer the simplest approach that delivers meaningful value.
7. Use backlogit-native artifacts only -- Capture the outcome through backlogit stash add and backlogit deliberate, not legacy .backlog/... files.
8. Prefer durable lineage -- Every completed session should leave behind a stash item and linked deliberation so planning and implementation can trace the origin.

Feature Description

The user provides the feature idea or problem to explore as input when invoking this skill.

If no feature description is provided, ask: "What would you like to explore? Please describe the feature, problem, or improvement you are thinking about."

Do not proceed until you have a feature description.

Workflow

Phase 0: Resume, Assess, and Route

0.1 Resume Existing Work

If the topic matches an existing stash-linked deliberation artifact in .backlogit/queue:

• Read the deliberation artifact
• Confirm with the user: "Found an existing deliberation for [topic]. Continue from this, or start fresh?"
• If resuming, summarize current state and continue from existing decisions

0.2 Assess Whether Deliberation Is Needed

If the user provides specific acceptance criteria, exact expected behavior, well-defined scope, and referenced existing patterns:

• Keep the interaction brief
• Confirm understanding and present concise next-step options
• Still create a concise stash entry and deliberation when a durable handoff to planning is valuable
• Skip Phases 1.1 and 1.2; go directly to Phase 1.3 or Phase 3

0.3 Assess Scope

Use the feature description plus a light scan to classify:

• Lightweight -- small, well-bounded, low ambiguity
• Standard -- normal feature or bounded refactor with some decisions
• Deep -- cross-cutting, strategic, or highly ambiguous

Broadcast the scope assessment.

Phase 1: Understand the Idea

1.1 Existing Context Scan

Search the codebase for relevant context, matching depth to scope:

Codebase search:

• Use grep/glob to search for the feature's key concepts across the codebase
• Identify affected modules and related code patterns
• Review existing implementations for consistency

Learnings check: Invoke learnings-researcher as a subagent to search docs/compound/ for relevant past solutions. Broadcast the result count.

1.2 Collaborative Dialogue

Ask one question at a time. Prefer single-select choices when natural options exist.

Cover these areas based on scope:

• Lightweight: 1-2 clarifying questions, then proceed
• Standard: Problem frame, intended behavior, scope boundaries, success criteria
• Deep: All standard areas plus: trade-offs, alternatives considered, risks, dependencies, migration concerns

Broadcast each question for operator visibility.

1.3 Boundary Setting

Establish:

• What is in scope
• What is explicitly out of scope (non-goals)
• Success criteria (concrete, testable)
• Blocking assumptions

Phase 2: Explore Approaches (Standard and Deep only)

For standard and deep scope:

1. Present 2-3 approaches with trade-offs
2. Get user preference
3. Document rationale for chosen approach

Phase 3: Persist the Deliberation in backlogit

Persist the outcome through backlogit only:

1. Create a stash entry with backlogit stash add "{topic}" --kind feature --priority {priority} unless resuming an existing stash-linked deliberation.
2. Use the returned stash ID to create the linked deliberation with backlogit deliberate <stash-id>.
3. Populate the artifact sections with the discussion outcome.
4. Treat the stash entry and deliberation artifact as the durable handoff to later planning and harvest workflows.

## Problem Frame

{1-2 paragraphs describing the problem and why it matters}

## Options

{Alternatives considered and their trade-offs}

## Chosen Direction

{The selected direction and rationale}

## Open Questions

{Questions that remain unresolved}

## Notes

{Supporting research, references, or follow-up notes}

When populating the sections:

• Use Problem Frame for the problem, goals, and scope framing
• Use Options for alternatives and trade-offs
• Use Chosen Direction for the selected path and rationale
• Use Open Questions for anything that must be resolved later
• Use Notes for references, research, and follow-up context

Broadcast the stash ID and resulting deliberation artifact ID when written.

Phase 4: Next Steps

Present options:

1. "Harvest the stash entry into a backlogit work item and use the linked deliberation as planning context"
2. "Run the impl-plan skill standalone with the deliberation artifact as the planning source"
3. "Revise specific sections of the deliberation artifact"
4. "Park this for later"