idea-griller

name	idea-griller
description	Use when user describes a new idea, project, or feature they haven't fully thought through, when an idea needs to be pressure-tested before writing a spec, when assumptions about users, business model, or distribution are unstated, or when the user wants to surface what they don't know before committing engineering effort.

Idea Griller

Overview

Pressure-test a raw idea through Socratic questioning. One question per turn, each built from the user's last answer. Output is .forge/idea-brief.md — a structured brief that lets spec-driven-development skip discovery and go straight to requirements.

When to Use

• User describes a new idea, project, or feature they haven't fully thought through
• User wants to stress-test assumptions before writing a spec
• Idea is vague, contradictory, or needs a sharper scope

When NOT to Use

• .forge/prd.md already exists — the idea is past this stage
• User is reporting a bug — use debugging-and-recovery
• Idea is already well-specified with named users, clear scope, and a distribution plan

Common Rationalizations

Thought	Reality
"The idea is obvious, let's skip to the spec"	Obvious ideas carry the most unchecked assumptions
"The user knows what they want"	They know symptoms — root cause is often different
"One more question is too many"	Vague answers compound — drill until specific
"I can infer the business model"	Never infer. Ask. You will be wrong.
"The MVP is clear"	MVPs defined without drilling risks are over-scoped
"We can resolve distribution later"	If you can't name channel + motion now, the idea isn't ready
"We covered the important branches"	Important by whose criteria? Distribution and Risks are the most-skipped and the most-costly to miss.

Red Flags

• User says "everyone" or "all users" — no segment identified
• Answer to distribution is "word of mouth" or "social media" — not a plan
• MVP scope grows across turns — riskiest assumption not isolated
• User can't name a single person who has this problem today
• Business model is "we'll figure it out later"
• Founder fit answer is "I'm passionate about this space"
• Interview stopped before all 7 branches because "the idea is clear enough" or "we ran out of time"

Behavior Rules

• One question per turn. Always.
• Generate each question from the user's last answer — never from a fixed script
• If vague or contradictory: drill deeper on the same branch
• If clear and specific: acknowledge briefly (one line), advance to next branch
• Max 3 questions per branch — don't loop forever
• Push back on weak answers. "People want this" requires evidence.
• Note unresolved items as open assumptions in the brief

Branches

Work through in order. Each is a checkpoint to reach, not a question to ask. See evaluation-criteria.md for resolution criteria per branch.

1. Problem — what's broken, for who, how often, how painfully
2. Founder fit — why this person, why now, what's the unfair advantage
3. Solution — what specifically; what's explicitly out of scope
4. Business model — how money flows, who pays, how much
5. Distribution — how the first 100 users find it; specific acquisition motion
6. Risks — the single most likely way this fails
7. MVP — the smallest thing that tests the riskiest assumption

Workflow

1. Ask the user to describe their idea in a few sentences. Take it in — no clarifying questions yet.
2. Start branch 1. Generate your first question from what they said.
3. After each answer: clear → acknowledge + advance; vague → follow-up that names the vagueness explicitly ("You said 'small businesses' — do you mean a 2-person bootstrapped shop or a 50-person company with a finance team?").
4. When all 7 branches are resolved (or explicitly noted as open assumptions), write the brief.

Output

Create .forge/ if it doesn't exist. Write .forge/idea-brief.md with a forge:meta dependency header at the top (generated_by: idea-griller, generated_at: <ISO 8601 UTC with Z>, depends_on: [] — independent, no upstream, generated_from: {}, content_hash: <sha256 first 8 of THIS file's body>). See forge-dependency-graph for the convention. Then the brief content:

<!-- forge:meta
generated_by: idea-griller
generated_at: 2026-05-13T12:00:00Z
depends_on: []
generated_from: {}
content_hash: <first 8 chars of sha256>
-->

# Idea Brief: [idea name]

## The problem
[Specific user, specific pain, specific frequency — 1-2 sentences]

## Founder fit
[Why this person. What they know or have that others don't.]

## The solution
[What it is. What it is NOT.]

## Business model
[Who pays. How much. Why they would.]

## Distribution
[How first 100 users are acquired. Specific channel — not "word of mouth".]

## Biggest risk
[The single most likely failure mode.]

## MVP
[The smallest thing that tests the biggest risk.]

## Open assumptions
[Anything unresolved. These become explicit gaps in the spec.]

After writing: "Brief written to .forge/idea-brief.md. Run /spec to continue."

Verification

• All 7 branches reached (or explicitly skipped with reason noted in Open assumptions)
• No answer left as "everyone", "scale", or "later"
• At least one named person or company as the target user
• MVP is a single testable thing, not a feature list
• Distribution names a specific channel and motion
• Open assumptions section populated (empty = suspicious)
• .forge/idea-brief.md written and readable