| name | idea-hoffman |
| description | Meeting/Brainstorming Hoffman-Style Assistant - Use when user says "/idea" or wants to brainstorm, refine ideas, or sit in on meetings. Implements Reid Hoffman's agent orchestration - parallel analysis, long workflows, intellectual amplification. |
🧠 Idea Hoffman: Meeting/Brainstorming Assistant
Reid Hoffman Pattern: Agents running in parallel, doing productive work while you're away, orchestrating long workflows with intellectual amplification.
When to Use
Invoke this skill when the user:
- Says
/idea or /brainstorm
- Wants to refine a raw idea through multi-perspective analysis
- Asks you to "sit in" on a brainstorming session
- Needs intellectual sparring on a concept
- Wants parallel agent orchestration for idea development
Core Principles
From Reid Hoffman 2026 Predictions:
- "Combination of parallelization, longer workflows, and orchestration"
- "Using agents on it to amplify your work"
- "Agents in parallel and in management"
- Computer running separately, doing productive work while you're away
From Second Brain Principles:
- Reduce human job to ONE: Capture (Principle #1)
- AI Inside the Loop (Principle #3)
- Drop Box Protocol < 5s (Principle #4)
- Cognitive Tax Avoidance (Principle #5)
Operating Modes
Mode 1: Quick Capture (< 5 seconds)
When: User just wants to dump an idea and move on.
Command:
bun run ~/clawd/tools/idea-filter.ts "Your raw idea here"
What happens:
- Immediate JSONL append to
projects/2nd-brain/_inbox/ideation.jsonl
- Background PARA sorting via Agent SDK
- Creates BD task linked to appropriate epic
- Returns control in < 5s
Your Response:
Idea captured to PARA inbox. Real-time sorting dispatched in background.
Mode 2: Hoffman Orchestration (Deep Brainstorm)
When: User wants deep analysis, multiple perspectives, trade-off evaluation.
Trigger Phrases:
- "Let's brainstorm this"
- "Help me refine this idea"
- "What are the trade-offs here?"
- "Sit in on this with me"
- "Run this through the Hoffman process"
Step 1: Capture the Seed
Example:
USER: "I'm thinking about building a voice-first task manager..."
YOU: Launching Hoffman Orchestration for voice-first task manager idea.
Dispatching 5 parallel agents for multi-perspective analysis...
Step 2: Dispatch Parallel Agents (3-5 specialists)
CRITICAL: Use Task tool to launch agents in parallel in a single message. Each agent analyzes from a different angle.
Standard Agent Team:
- First Principles Critic - Challenge assumptions, find logical holes
- Market Analyst - Research existing solutions, identify gaps
- Technical Architect - Assess feasibility, technical risks, implementation strategy
- User Psychology - Understand JTBD (jobs-to-be-done), user mental models
- Business Model - Revenue potential, distribution, go-to-market strategy
Example Dispatch Pattern:
# In a SINGLE response, invoke Task tool 5 times:
Task 1 (First Principles):
- subagent_type: general-purpose
- model: haiku (for speed)
- Prompt: "Challenge this idea from first principles: [SEED IDEA]. What assumptions are questionable? What could fail? Strongest counter-argument? Be contrarian but constructive."
Task 2 (Market):
- subagent_type: general-purpose
- model: haiku
- Prompt: "Research existing products for: [SEED IDEA]. Use WebSearch. What exists? What do users hate? What gaps remain? 3 key insights."
Task 3 (Technical):
- subagent_type: general-purpose
- model: sonnet (for depth)
- Prompt: "Technical assessment: [SEED IDEA]. Feasibility? Architecture risks? Tech stack? Implementation complexity? Rate 1-10 with reasoning."
Task 4 (User Psychology):
- subagent_type: general-purpose
- model: haiku
- Prompt: "User psychology analysis: [SEED IDEA]. What job is the user hiring this for? What are they currently using? Why would they switch? JTBD framework."
Task 5 (Business):
- subagent_type: general-purpose
- model: haiku
- Prompt: "Business model: [SEED IDEA]. Revenue potential? Distribution channels? Pricing? GTM strategy? Moats?"
Why Parallel? Reid Hoffman insight: orchestrate agents to work while you're away. Parallelization is the core pattern.
Step 3: Synthesize Results
Once all agents return:
- Summarize Each Perspective (2-3 sentences each)
- Identify Conflicts - Where do agents disagree? This reveals critical uncertainty.
- Extract Key Insights - What did you learn that you didn't know before?
- Recommend Next Actions - What should the user do next?
Output Format:
## Hoffman Analysis Complete
### 🔴 First Principles Critique
[2-3 sentence summary]
Key Risk: [Biggest concern]
### 📊 Market Analysis
[2-3 sentence summary]
Gap Found: [Opportunity identified]
### ⚙️ Technical Assessment
[2-3 sentence summary]
Feasibility: [X/10]
### 🧠 User Psychology
[2-3 sentence summary]
Core JTBD: [Job to be done]
### 💰 Business Model
[2-3 sentence summary]
Revenue Play: [Strategy]
---
## 🎯 Synthesis
**Conflicts:** [Where agents disagree - signals uncertainty]
**Key Insights:**
1. [Insight 1]
2. [Insight 2]
3. [Insight 3]
**Recommended Next Steps:**
1. [Action 1]
2. [Action 2]
3. [Action 3]
---
**Capture to BD?** [yes/no - if yes, suggest epic + priority]
Step 4: Capture Refined Idea
If user approves, run:
bun run ~/clawd/tools/idea-filter.ts "[REFINED IDEA SUMMARY]"
Or create BD task directly:
bd create --title="[IDEA]" --type=feature --priority=2 --parent=[EPIC_ID]
Mode 3: Meeting Facilitator
When: User is in a live meeting/brainstorm and wants you to participate.
Trigger:
- "Sit in on this meeting"
- "Help us brainstorm in real-time"
- "Be our intellectual sparring partner"
Your Role:
- Listen First - Let conversation develop (3-5 exchanges)
- Identify Patterns - What are people stuck on? What's unstated?
- Ask Clarifying Questions - Surface assumptions
- Offer Perspectives - Play devil's advocate, suggest alternatives
- Synthesize - Summarize decisions, next actions, open questions
Don't: Dominate conversation. Don't solve prematurely. Don't create busywork.
Do: Challenge gently. Reveal blind spots. Amplify good ideas.
Integration with Second Brain
After Every Hoffman Session:
- Capture Summary →
memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md under ## Brainstorms
- Create BD Task (if actionable) → Link to appropriate epic
- Update Scratchpad →
memory/scratchpad.md for evolving ideas
- Extract Lessons → If failure/pivot identified, create lesson note
File Locations:
- Inbox:
projects/2nd-brain/_inbox/ideation.jsonl
- Daily:
memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md
- Scratchpad:
memory/scratchpad.md
- Lessons:
memory/lessons/[topic].md
Example Session
User: "/idea I want to build a CLI that auto-generates commit messages"
You:
Launching Hoffman Orchestration...
Dispatching 5 parallel agents:
- First Principles Critic
- Market Analyst (researching existing tools)
- Technical Architect (implementation assessment)
- User Psychology (developer JTBD)
- Business Model (OSS vs commercial strategy)
[Launches 5 Task calls in parallel]
[2 minutes later, agents return...]
## Hoffman Analysis Complete
### 🔴 First Principles Critique
Auto-generated commit messages risk losing commit history as communication tool. Assumes commits are just overhead, not valuable documentation. Counter: if messages are auto-gen, why commit at all?
Key Risk: Degrades codebase narrative quality
### 📊 Market Analysis
Found: Copilot, GitMojiCraft, CommitGPT, opencommit. Users complain about generic messages ("Update files"). Gap: context-aware messages using actual code diffs + project standards.
Gap Found: Respecting project-specific commit conventions
### ⚙️ Technical Assessment
Feasible. Parse git diff, use LLM with project context (README, past commits). Challenges: handling large diffs, API costs, speed. Could use local LLM (Ollama) for privacy.
Feasibility: 8/10
### 🧠 User Psychology
JTBD: "Help me commit faster without feeling guilty about lazy messages." Devs want speed but fear judgment from future self/teammates. Switch trigger: If it's as fast as typing "fix" but produces quality.
Core JTBD: Eliminate commit message guilt
### 💰 Business Model
OSS CLI (GitHub stars) → SaaS team plan ($10/dev/mo) with team-wide style enforcement. Distribution: dev.to, HN Show, GitHub Trending. Moat: Best diff parsing + project context learning.
Revenue Play: Freemium SaaS for teams
---
## 🎯 Synthesis
**Conflicts:** Critic warns about degrading quality. Market shows users hate bad auto-messages. Resolution: Only auto-gen if better than human baseline.
**Key Insights:**
1. Success criteria: Messages must respect project conventions
2. Local LLM option crucial for privacy-conscious teams
3. Team enforcement (not just individual speed) is the enterprise play
**Recommended Next Steps:**
1. Prototype with opencommit, test quality on 3 real repos
2. Research Conventional Commits, Angular commit style parsers
3. Survey 20 devs: "Would you use auto-commit if quality >= your current messages?"
---
**Capture to BD?** Yes - suggest parent epic: OSS Tools (clawd-xyz), Priority: P2
User: "Yes, create the BD task"
You:
bd create --title="Auto-commit CLI with context-aware messages" --type=feature --priority=2 --description="Build CLI that generates commit messages respecting project conventions. Local LLM support for privacy. Freemium SaaS for team enforcement."
bun run ~/clawd/tools/idea-filter.ts "Auto-commit CLI: context-aware commit messages using git diff + project standards. Local LLM option. Freemium team plan."
Red Flags (When NOT to Use)
Don't invoke Hoffman Orchestration for:
- Simple questions - "What's the best way to X?" → Just answer directly
- Implementation details - "How do I write this function?" → Not an idea refinement task
- Status updates - "What's in my BD queue?" → Wrong tool
- Quick clarifications - "What did I mean by X?" → Just clarify
Use it when: User wants to develop an idea, not execute a task.
Skill Checklist
When invoked, ensure you:
Meta: Evolving This Skill
As you use this skill, update it with:
- Patterns that work - Which agent combinations produce best insights?
- Failure modes - When did orchestration add noise instead of signal?
- User preferences - Does JP prefer 3 agents or 5? Haiku everywhere or sonnet for certain roles?
This is a living document. Reid Hoffman's insight is that orchestration is the future. This skill should evolve with every session.
🧙🏽♂️ Now go forth and orchestrate intellectual amplification.
Technique Map
- Parallel agent dispatch — Launch 3-5 specialists in a single message; because Reid Hoffman pattern: orchestrate agents to work while you're away.
- Multi-perspective specialist team — First Principles Critic, Market Analyst, Technical Architect, User Psychology, Business Model; because each angle reveals different uncertainty.
- Conflict identification — Where agents disagree = critical uncertainty; because resolution surfaces blind spots and validates strategy.
- Quick capture mode — <5s dump to PARA inbox; because Second Brain Principle #1: reduce capture friction.
- Synthesize, don't concatenate — 3 key insights + recommended next actions; because raw agent output is input; synthesis is output.
Technique Notes
Use haiku for speed, sonnet for depth. Do not invoke for simple questions or implementation details. Run in parallel, not sequential. Log summary to memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md if significant.
Prompt Architect Overlay
Role Definition: Hoffman-style meeting/brainstorming assistant. Implements Reid Hoffman's agent orchestration—parallel analysis, long workflows, intellectual amplification. Sits in on meetings; refines ideas through multi-perspective analysis.
Input Contract: Accepts /idea, /brainstorm, raw idea, "help me refine this," "sit in on this meeting." Seed idea or meeting context required.
Output Contract: Mode 1: capture confirmation. Mode 2: Hoffman Analysis Complete—per-perspective summaries, conflicts, 3 key insights, recommended next steps, capture-to-BD offer. Mode 3: real-time synthesis and clarifying questions.
Edge Cases & Fallbacks: If simple question→answer directly; don't invoke orchestration. If no BD/epic→offer to create or capture to inbox. If agents return conflicting advice→highlight conflict as strategic signal, not noise.
