gen-generate-diverse-candidate-production

name	gen - Generate - Diverse Candidate Production
description	Produce diverse candidate solutions. Given constraints and purpose, generate N candidates ranging from conventional to extreme. The creative primitive that other skills call.
output	{"format":"prose"}

Generate - Diverse Candidate Production

Input: $ARGUMENTS

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Core Principles

1. Diversity over quantity. Three genuinely different candidates beat ten variations on the same idea. Every candidate set must include at least one conventional, one unconventional, and one extreme option.

2. Artifacts, not labels. Produce the actual thing — code, prose, layout, strategy document — not just a name for it. "Compress the hero section" is a label. Actual compressed hero HTML is an artifact.

3. Constraints are generative. Don't fight constraints — use them. Each constraint eliminates bad options and makes good options easier to find. Ask: "Given THESE constraints, what becomes possible?"

4. Separate generation from evaluation. Generate freely first. Don't self-censor during generation. Evaluation comes after (use /cri or /cmp).

5. Surprise yourself. If every candidate feels obvious, you haven't explored far enough. At least one candidate should make you think "that's weird but it might work."

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The Process

1. Frame the Generation

What am I producing? What constraints apply? What purpose does it serve?

DOMAIN: [what kind of thing — code, prose, design, strategy, etc.]
PURPOSE: [what it must accomplish]
CONSTRAINTS: [hard limits — technical, resource, time, audience]
QUALITY CRITERIA: [how we'll know if it's good — can reference /cri]

2. Generate Candidates

Produce at minimum 3 candidates. For complex problems, 5-7.

Required diversity:

Slot	Description	Example
Conventional	Best practice. What an expert would do. Safe, proven.	Standard grid layout with hero + cards
Unconventional	Breaks one assumption. Surprising but defensible.	Single continuous scroll, no pages
Extreme	Breaks multiple assumptions. Might fail, might be brilliant.	No visual design at all — CLI interface

Techniques for generating unconventional/extreme candidates:

• Invert the strongest assumption ("What if we did the OPPOSITE?")
• Import from another domain ("How would a game designer solve this?")
• Remove the most obvious element ("What if there's no navigation?")
• Maximize a constraint ("What if we had to do this in 10 lines?")
• Combine two unrelated approaches ("What if this was both a tool AND a game?")

3. For Each Candidate

Produce the actual artifact (or as much as scope allows):

• Code → write the code
• Prose → write the text
• Design → write the CSS/HTML or describe with specific values
• Strategy → write the plan with specific actions
• Architecture → draw the diagram or describe specific components

Include a brief rationale (2-3 sentences): what's the core idea and why might it work?

4. Tag for Evaluation

Don't evaluate yet. Tag each candidate for downstream evaluation:

CANDIDATES PRODUCED: [N]
- [1] CONVENTIONAL: [brief description]
- [2] UNCONVENTIONAL: [brief description]
- [3] EXTREME: [brief description]
[- additional candidates if produced]

READY FOR: /cri or /cmp

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Domain Adaptation

Domain	Artifact Form	Diversity Lever
Web/UI	HTML + CSS (or specific values)	Layout structure, interaction model, information density
Writing	Actual prose (paragraph+)	Voice, structure, argument approach
Code	Working code	Architecture, algorithm, API shape
Strategy	Action plan with specifics	Risk posture, timeline, resource allocation
Product	Feature spec or prototype	User model, core loop, monetization

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When Called by Other Skills

Generate is a primitive. When called by UAUA (G1 step), design, or other skills:

• Accept constraints from the calling skill
• Produce artifacts in the format the caller needs
• Return candidates without evaluation (the caller evaluates)

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Common Failure Modes

Failure	Fix
All candidates are variations of the same idea	Force one that inverts the core assumption
Candidates are labels, not artifacts	Write the actual thing, not a description of it
Self-censoring ("that's too weird")	The extreme slot exists for this. Use it.
Too many candidates, all mediocre	Reduce to 3, increase quality of each
Constraints ignored	Reread constraints before each candidate
Voice collapse — all candidates sound the same	Read your candidates back-to-back. Same sentence length, same transitions, same tone? That's not diversity, it's one idea wearing different costumes. Each candidate should read like it was written by a different person with a different sensibility. Vary structure, rhythm, and register — not just content.
Cached takes across all slots — conventional, unconventional, and extreme are all predictable	The "unconventional" slot often gets the second-most-obvious idea, and "extreme" gets the third. Test: would someone familiar with the domain guess all three? If yes, your "diversity" is just a gradient of the same cached thinking. The extreme candidate should make you uncomfortable, not just sound edgy.