idea

name	idea
version	1.1.0
description	[Project Management] Use when capturing new ideas, feature requests, or concepts for future refinement.

[BLOCKING] Execute skill steps in declared order. NEVER skip, reorder, or merge steps without explicit user approval. [BLOCKING] Before each step or sub-skill call, update task tracking: set in_progress when step starts, set completed when step ends. [BLOCKING] Every completed/skipped step MUST include brief evidence or explicit skip reason. [BLOCKING] If Task tools are unavailable, create and maintain an equivalent step-by-step plan tracker with the same status transitions.

Quick Summary

Goal: Capture raw product ideas as structured backlog artifacts with project module context.

MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION TaskCreate task to READ project-specific reference doc: project-structure-reference.md — project patterns and structure. Not found → search: project documentation, coding standards, architecture docs.

Workflow:

1. Gather Info — Ask problem, value, scope, target users
2. Generate Artifact — Create idea file with ID (IDEA-YYMMDD-NNN) + draft status
3. Detect Module — Auto-match project module, load feature context from docs
4. Discovery Interview — AskUserQuestion 3-5 structured questions (MANDATORY)
5. Validate — Confirm problem statement, scope, stakeholders (MANDATORY)
6. Suggest Next — Point to /refine for PBI creation

Key Rules:

• Output: team-artifacts/ideas/{YYMMDD}-{role}-idea-{slug}.md
• Validation NEVER optional — MANDATORY step
• Auto-detect module silently; prompt only when ambiguous
• MUST ATTENTION include t_shirt_size (XS/S/M/L/XL) in artifact for early sizing

Greenfield Mode

Auto-detected: No codebase found (no src/, app/, lib/, server/, packages/ dirs; no package.json/*.sln/go.mod; no project-config.json) → greenfield mode. Planning artifacts (docs/, plans/, .claude/) don't count — project must have actual code dirs with content.

When greenfield detected:

1. Skip module auto-detection (no modules exist yet)
2. Skip project-structure-reference.md read (won't exist)
3. Focus broader problem-space: market gap, competitors, differentiation
4. Output tech-agnostic problem statement
5. Enable WebSearch for market/competitor context
6. Increase AskUserQuestion frequency — capture vision, constraints, team profile, scale expectations
7. [CRITICAL] NEVER ask about tech stack during idea capture. Tech stack = research-driven decision AFTER full business analysis (business-evaluation phase). User volunteers preference → acknowledge but defer to tech stack research phase.

Detailed Workflow

Step 1: Gather Information

• No title → ask: "What's the idea in one sentence?"
• Ask: "What problem does this solve?"
• Ask: "Who benefits from this?"
• Ask: "Any initial scope thoughts?"

Step 2: Generate Artifact

• Template: .claude/docs/team-artifacts/templates/idea-template.md
• ID: IDEA-{YYMMDD}-{NNN} (sequential)
• Status: draft

Step 3: Capture Details

• Document problem statement, expected value, target users

Step 4: Detect Project Module

Dynamic Discovery:

1. Run: Glob("docs/business-features/*/README.md")
2. Extract module names from paths
3. Match idea keywords against module keywords

Scenario	Action
Clear match	Auto-detect — NEVER show confidence levels
Ambiguous / no match	Prompt: "Which project module?" + Glob results + "Cross-cutting/Infrastructure"
2+ modules detected	Load ALL modules, add all to related_features

If module detected:

1. Read docs/business-features/{module}/README.md (first 200 lines)
2. Extract feature list from Quick Navigation section
3. Add to frontmatter: module: {detected_module}, related_features: [Feature1, Feature2]

Step 5: Load Feature Context

1. Read module README overview (~2K tokens)
2. Identify closest matching feature(s)
3. Read corresponding feature doc (3-5K tokens)
4. Extract: related entities, existing business rules (BR-{MOD}-XXX), test case patterns (TC-{FEATURE}-{NNN})

Token Budget: Target 8-12K tokens total.

Step 6: Save Artifact

• Path: team-artifacts/ideas/{YYMMDD}-{role}-idea-{slug}.md
• Role: infer from context or ask
• Include domain context if detected

Step 6.5: Discovery Interview (MANDATORY)

Use AskUserQuestion — 3-5 structured questions. Each MUST ATTENTION have 2-4 options with one marked "(Recommended)".

Category	Purpose	Example
Problem Clarity	Distinguish problem from solution	"What problem does this solve?" + options
User Persona	Identify primary user	"Who benefits most?" + role options
Scope	MVP vs full vision	"What's smallest valuable version?"
Testability	Define done?	"How would you verify this works?"
Impact	Business value sizing	"How many users/processes affected?"
Constraints	Known blockers	"Any technical/business constraints?"
Scale	Expected load/growth	"How many users/transactions expected?"

Greenfield: NEVER include tech stack questions. Focus on business problem, users, scale, constraints.

Testability Question (ALWAYS include): "How would you verify this feature works correctly?" — Options: manual test steps, automated test criteria, metric thresholds.

Document all answers under ## Discovery Interview.

Step 7: Validate Idea (MANDATORY)

AskUserQuestion — 2-3 validation questions:

Category	Example Question
Problem	"Is the problem statement clear and user-focused?"
Value	"What's the expected business value or user benefit?"
Scope	"Any scope boundaries to clarify now?"
Stakeholders	"Who else should review this idea?"

Document under ## Validation Summary. Update artifact based on answers.

Validation Output Format:

## Validation Summary

**Validated:** {date}

### Confirmed

- {decision}: {user choice}

### Action Items

- [ ] {follow-up if any}

Step 8: Suggest Next Step

AskUserQuestion after capture:

1. /refine — Refine into PBI (Recommended)
2. /tdd-spec — Jump straight to test spec
3. /plan — Start implementation planning

Output: "Idea captured! To refine into a PBI, run: /refine {filename}" Module detected: "Module context from {module} will be used during refinement."

Output Formats

Domain Context Section

## Domain Context (Project Features)

### Module

{module_name}

### Related Features

- {Feature1} - [docs link]
- {Feature2} - [docs link]

### Domain Entities

- **Primary:** {Entity1}, {Entity2}
- **Related:** {Entity3}

### Existing Business Rules

- BR-{MOD}-XXX: {Brief description}

UI Sketch Section

## UI Sketch

### Layout

{Rough ASCII wireframe — see UI wireframe protocol}

### Key Components

- **{Component}** — {purpose} _(tier: common | domain-shared | page/app)_

Search existing libs before proposing new components. Backend-only idea: ## UI Sketch → N/A — Backend-only change. No UI affected.

Examples

/idea "Dark mode toggle for settings"
# Creates: team-artifacts/ideas/260119-po-idea-dark-mode-toggle.md

/idea "Add goal progress tracking notification"
# Creates with module context: team-artifacts/ideas/260119-po-idea-goal-progress-notification.md

---

Workflow Recommendation

MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION — NO EXCEPTIONS: Not already in workflow → MUST ATTENTION use AskUserQuestion:

1. Activate idea-to-pbi workflow (Recommended) — idea → refine → refine-review → story → story-review → prioritize
2. Execute /idea directly — run standalone

---

Next Steps

MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION — NO EXCEPTIONS after completing skill, use AskUserQuestion:

• "/refine (Recommended)" — Transform idea into actionable PBI
• "/web-research" — Idea needs market research first
• "Skip, continue manually" — user decides

---

[IMPORTANT] TaskCreate break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks each file read. Simple tasks: AI MUST ATTENTION ask user whether to skip.

External Memory: Complex/lengthy work (research, analysis, scan, review) → write intermediate findings to plans/reports/ — prevents context loss, serves as deliverable.

Evidence Gate: MANDATORY IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION — every claim, finding, recommendation requires file:line proof or traced evidence, confidence percentage (>80% act, <80% verify first).

UI Wireframe — Process visual design input (Figma URLs, screenshots, wireframes) via appropriate tool BEFORE creating wireframes. Use box-drawing ASCII characters for spatial layout. Classify every component into exactly ONE tier: Common (cross-app reusable) / Domain-Shared (cross-domain) / Page (single-page). Duplicate UI code = wrong tier. Search existing component libraries before creating new (>=80% match = reuse). Detail level varies by skill (idea=rough, story=full decomposition).

AI Mistake Prevention — Failure modes to avoid on every task:

Check downstream references before deleting. Deleting components causes documentation and code staleness cascades. Map all referencing files before removal. Verify AI-generated content against actual code. AI hallucinates APIs, class names, and method signatures. Always grep to confirm existence before documenting or referencing. Trace full dependency chain after edits. Changing a definition misses downstream variables and consumers derived from it. Always trace the full chain. Trace ALL code paths when verifying correctness. Confirming code exists is not confirming it executes. Always trace early exits, error branches, and conditional skips — not just happy path. When debugging, ask "whose responsibility?" before fixing. Trace whether bug is in caller (wrong data) or callee (wrong handling). Fix at responsible layer — never patch symptom site. Assume existing values are intentional — ask WHY before changing. Before changing any constant, limit, flag, or pattern: read comments, check git blame, examine surrounding code. Verify ALL affected outputs, not just the first. Changes touching multiple stacks require verifying EVERY output. One green check is not all green checks. Holistic-first debugging — resist nearest-attention trap. When investigating any failure, list EVERY precondition first (config, env vars, DB names, endpoints, DI registrations, data preconditions), then verify each against evidence before forming any code-layer hypothesis. Surgical changes — apply the diff test. Bug fix: every changed line must trace directly to the bug. Don't restyle or improve adjacent code. Enhancement task: implement improvements AND announce them explicitly. Surface ambiguity before coding — don't pick silently. If request has multiple interpretations, present each with effort estimate and ask. Never assume all-records, file-based, or more complex path.

Critical Thinking Mindset — Apply critical thinking, sequential thinking. Every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: Never present guess as fact — cite sources for every claim, admit uncertainty freely, self-check output for errors, cross-reference independently, stay skeptical of own confidence — certainty without evidence root of all hallucination.

Sequential Thinking Protocol — Structured multi-step reasoning for complex/ambiguous work. Use when planning, reviewing, debugging, or refining ideas where one-shot reasoning is unsafe.

Trigger when: complex problem decomposition · adaptive plans needing revision · analysis with course correction · unclear/emerging scope · multi-step solutions · hypothesis-driven debugging · cross-cutting trade-off evaluation.

Format (explicit mode — visible thought trail):

1. Thought N/M: [aspect] — one aspect per thought, state assumptions/uncertainty
2. Thought N/M [REVISION of Thought K]: ... — when prior reasoning invalidated; state Original / Why revised / Impact
3. Thought N/M [BRANCH A from Thought K]: ... — explore alternative; converge with decision rationale
4. Thought N/M [HYPOTHESIS]: ... then [VERIFICATION]: ... — test before acting
5. Thought N/N [FINAL] — only when verified, all critical aspects addressed, confidence >80%

Mandatory closers: Confidence % stated · Assumptions listed · Open questions surfaced · Next action concrete.

Stop conditions: confidence <80% on any critical decision → escalate via AskUserQuestion · ≥3 revisions on same thought → re-frame the problem · branch count >3 → split into sub-task.

Implicit mode: apply methodology internally without visible markers when adding markers would clutter the response (routine work where reasoning aids accuracy).

Deep-dive: see /sequential-thinking skill (.claude/skills/sequential-thinking/SKILL.md) for worked examples (api-design, debug, architecture), advanced techniques (spiral refinement, hypothesis testing, convergence), and meta-strategies (uncertainty handling, revision cascades).

MUST ATTENTION apply critical thinking — every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: never present guess as fact.

MUST ATTENTION apply sequential-thinking — multi-step Thought N/M, REVISION/BRANCH/HYPOTHESIS markers, confidence % closer; see /sequential-thinking skill.

MUST ATTENTION apply AI mistake prevention — holistic-first debugging, fix at responsible layer, surface ambiguity before coding, re-read files after compaction.

Prompt-Enhance Closing Anchors

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION follow declared step order for this skill; NEVER skip, reorder, or merge steps without explicit user approval IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION for every step/sub-skill call: set in_progress before execution, set completed after execution IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION every skipped step MUST include explicit reason; every completed step MUST include concise evidence IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION if Task tools unavailable, maintain an equivalent step-by-step plan tracker with synchronized statuses

Closing Reminders

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION TaskCreate break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION validate all decisions with user via AskUserQuestion — NEVER auto-decide IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION Discovery Interview + Validation NEVER optional — MANDATORY steps IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION NEVER ask about tech stack in greenfield mode — defer to business-evaluation phase IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION auto-detect module silently — prompt only when ambiguous IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION add final review task to verify work quality

Anti-Rationalization:

Evasion	Rebuttal
"Idea is simple, skip interview"	NEVER skip — discovery uncovers hidden constraints
"Module is obvious, skip detection"	Still run Glob() — confirm with evidence not assumption
"Validation is redundant after interview"	ALWAYS run both — different question categories
"Greenfield check is optional"	Auto-detect is MANDATORY — no manual override

[TASK-PLANNING] Before acting, analyze task scope and systematically break it into small todo tasks and sub-tasks using TaskCreate.