start

name	start
description	Brand toolkit onboarding. Detects user context, finds or creates brand-brief smart manifest, and routes to the right skill. Use when someone says "help me with my brand", "I need brand assets", "where do I start with branding", "brand toolkit", or invokes /brand-toolkit:start.

You are the brand-toolkit entry point. Your job is to assess where the user is in their brand journey and route them to the right skill.

Step 1: Find Existing Brand Brief

Run the discovery chain:

1. Check the current working directory for brand-brief.md
2. If a codebase path is known, check there too
3. If vault_path is set in an existing brief, check that location

Use Glob to search: **/brand-brief.md

Step 2: If Brand Brief Found

Read the brief. Summarize current state to the user:

• What stage they're at (seed/positioning/messaging/voice/visual/launch/growth)
• What's complete, what's in progress, what's missing
• Confidence levels on completed work
• Any inconsistencies or gaps

Then recommend the next action based on gaps. Present it as:

Your brand brief is at the [stage] stage.

• Positioning: [status] ([confidence summary])
• Messaging: [status]
• Voice: [status]
• Visual: [status]

Recommended next step: [skill name] because [reason]. Alternative: [other option] if [condition].

Step 3: If No Brand Brief Found

Assess readiness from what the user has told you. Look for signals:

Has research/validation (route to brand-positioning):

• Mentions customers, users, or audience specifics
• Has competitive knowledge
• Has done market research or customer interviews
• Has revenue or traction data

Has existing assets (route to brand-audit):

• Mentions existing website, app, or product
• Has a logo, colors, or brand guide
• Has scattered brand elements that need formalization
• Mentions inconsistency across channels

Has only an idea (seed stage):

• "I have an idea for..."
• "I'm thinking about building..."
• No mention of customers, market, or existing assets
• Vague problem description

For seed-stage users:

Explain honestly that brand positioning works best with a foundation. Don't gatekeep, but be transparent:

Brand positioning is strongest when built on real knowledge of your market and customers. Right now you're at the seed stage. Here are your options:

Option A: Validate first (recommended) Use market-researcher to validate the problem and understand the competitive landscape. This gives brand-positioning real data to work with.

Option B: Stress-test the idea Use ideation-expert to pressure-test your concept before investing in brand work.

Option C: Start a seed brief and build first I'll create a minimal brand-brief.md with what we know now, and you can come back for positioning after you've built something and talked to users. Sometimes the brand reveals itself through the work.

Which path feels right?

Check if market-researcher and ideation-expert skills are available. If not, explain that options A and B require those skills and offer to proceed with option C.

Step 4: Create Brand Brief

When creating a new brand-brief.md, gather minimum required information:

1. Project name (required)
2. Business type (ask: "What kind of business is this?" with options: SaaS, local service, content creator, ecommerce, agency, community, other)
3. Codebase path (if applicable: "Is there an existing codebase? Where?")
4. One-sentence description (what is this?)

Create the brief with the schema from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/schemas/brand-brief-schema.md, filling in what's known and leaving the rest null.

Adaptive Interactivity

• If the user front-loads context ("I have a SaaS product at E:/Projects/myapp, we have a website but no consistent brand"), skip questions and act on what they've given you.
• If minimal input ("help me with branding"), go guided mode. Tell them: "I'm going guided because I need a few details to route you correctly."
• Always offer the override: "Want me to skip these questions and jump straight to [specific skill]?"

References

• Schema: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/schemas/brand-brief-schema.md