brainstorming

name	brainstorming
description	Use before any creative/build work — adding features, building components, new functionality, or changing behavior. Turns a brief or vague idea into an approved design doc through one-question-at-a-time dialogue. Does NOT write code until the design is approved. Output is the design doc; the next step is owned by the caller.
license	MIT

Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.

Start by understanding the current project context, then ask questions one at a time to refine the idea. Once you understand what you're building, present the design and get user approval.

Hard gate: Do not invoke any implementation skill, write any code, scaffold any project, or take any implementation action until you have presented a design and the user has approved it. This applies to every project regardless of perceived simplicity.

The Process

Understanding the idea:

• Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)
• Before asking detailed questions, assess scope: if the request describes multiple independent subsystems (e.g., "build a platform with chat, file storage, billing, and analytics"), flag this immediately. Don't spend questions refining details of a project that needs to be decomposed first.
• If the project is too large for a single spec, help the user decompose into sub-projects: what are the independent pieces, how do they relate, what order should they be built? Then brainstorm the first sub-project through the normal design flow. Each sub-project gets its own spec → plan → implementation cycle.
• For appropriately-scoped projects, ask questions one at a time to refine the idea
• Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too
• Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions
• Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria
• Apply YAGNI ruthlessly — keep unnecessary features out of the design

Exploring approaches:

• Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs
• Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning
• Lead with your recommended option and explain why

Presenting the design:

• Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design (it can be short — a few sentences for truly simple projects — but you must present it and get approval)
• Scale each section to its complexity: a few sentences if straightforward, up to 200-300 words if nuanced
• Get the user's approval after each section before moving on
• Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing
• Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense
• Break the system into smaller units with one clear purpose and well-defined interfaces; in existing codebases follow existing patterns and don't propose unrelated refactoring

After the Design

Documentation:

• Write the validated design to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md. docs/plans/ holds working designs and plans (often gitignored, local-only); docs/specs/ is reserved for finalized specs only. A design coming out of brainstorming is a working plan, so it belongs in docs/plans/, not docs/specs/.
  • (User preferences for location override this default)
• If (and only if) the target directory is tracked by git, commit the design after the User Review Gate. If it's gitignored (as docs/plans/ often is), skip the commit — the doc stays local. Check before assuming you can commit.

Spec Self-Review: After writing the spec document, look at it with fresh eyes:

1. Placeholder scan: Any "TBD", "TODO", incomplete sections, or vague requirements? Fix them.
2. Internal consistency: Do any sections contradict each other? Does the architecture match the feature descriptions?
3. Scope check: Is this focused enough for a single implementation plan, or does it need decomposition?
4. Ambiguity check: Could any requirement be interpreted two different ways? If so, pick one and make it explicit.

Fix any issues inline. No need to re-review — just fix and move on.

User Review Gate: After the self-review checklist is complete, ask the user to review the written spec before proceeding:

"Design written to <path>. Please review it and let me know if you want any changes[, then I'll commit it]. We'll start the implementation plan once you approve."

(Include the commit clause only if the directory is git-tracked; omit it for gitignored/local-only locations.)

Wait for the user's response. If they request changes, make them and re-run the self-review checklist. Only proceed once the user approves.

Next step (advisory):

• The approved design doc is this skill's output. A typical next step is turning it into an implementation plan — e.g. the writing-plans skill — but that sequencing is owned by the workflow or user that invoked this skill (see the plan workflow). Don't auto-invoke it.