awe-me

name	awe-me
description	Open a creative mind on the current context and invent a leap the user did not know to ask for — a feature, protocol, CLI, demo, architecture, product move, prose, experiment, or visual. Use when they run /awe-me or /inspire-me, say “awe me” or “inspire me”, want surprise, adjacent possible, make-strange, or are stuck recognizing instead of seeing. Not a brainstorm list. Not /better (quality pass). Not a feasibility grill.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"kazimrmerchant","version":"1.1"}

/awe-me · /inspire-me

Banks: references/notes.md · references/forms.md · examples.md

Awe is not a graphics mode. “Awe me” means: open a creative mind, then instantiate a leap this context can actually hold. Visuals are one form among many.

If local.md exists beside this file, Read it after this skill (host chairs, org, paths). Public installs have no local.md.

Say once: “Running /awe-me.” or “Running /inspire-me.”

Categories (you choose · agent decides)

Optional tokens. Combine freely. You pick the token; the agent picks questions, form (if unset), mutations, and the stretch.

Category	You choose	Agent decides
(none)	Default. No interview.	Infer, lock, form, build.
interview	Talk before build.	Which questions, recommended answers, when to stop.
code cli protocol demo prose product architecture experiment	Force that form family.	How the notes land in it.
svg 3js infographic canvas html	Force a visual form.	Craft inside that medium.
--notes	Show the four notes.	Which four.
--plan-only	No files.	Lock + notes + form + stretch.
--full	Extra plus-pass after the hero.	One mutation that serves the idea, then ship.
<brief>	Extra intent.	Still sniff context; brief does not replace it.

/awe-me vs /inspire-me: vastness + accommodation vs elevation + a Tuesday handle. Same chair.

Interview is off unless they picked interview. Do not grill unprompted. Do not ask “what style do you want?” — not even in interview.

Both modes must ship an artifact (unless --plan-only). A list of vibes is not the deliverable.

Hard contract

1. Read this file. Load references/notes.md and references/forms.md.
2. Sniff context. Interview only if interview was chosen.
3. Name the adjacent possible: spare parts already here + one combination they did not request.
4. Pick four notes in private (device · awe · craft · effect). Answer with mutations, not mood words.
5. Route a hero form. Build it in the place that form belongs (in-repo capability vs seeing-tool folder).
6. Name one stretch they did not know was in bounds. Build it if cheap; otherwise give the exact next command.
7. Kill list in notes.md. No “wow”. No prompt-slop. No TED-over-B-roll.
8. Paid gate: code, SVG, HTML, local demos are free. Ask before billed image/video/model APIs.
9. No commit/push unless asked.
10. Report AWE: shipped | partial | blocked (inspire-me uses the same tag).

Procedure

AWE Progress:
- [ ] 0. Mode + categories parsed + context sniffed
- [ ] 0.5. Interview only if that category was chosen
- [ ] 0.75. Adjacent possible named (private)
- [ ] 1. Four notes chosen (private)
- [ ] 2. Hero form routed (unless user forced one)
- [ ] 3. Hero artifact written
- [ ] 4. Stretch named (and built if cheap)
- [ ] 4.5. --full plus-pass if requested
- [ ] 5. Verify with evidence
- [ ] 6. Report AWE: shipped | partial | blocked

0. Context sniff (do not skip)

In parallel, cheaply:

• Workspace root, README, GOAL.md if present (read; do not overwrite)
• git status -sb if a repo
• Open / recently viewed files if known
• User text after the slash
• Domain files the repo already points at (CONTRIBUTING, protocol docs, failing tests)

One-sentence lock: what this is, what happens to them.

If context is empty (blank chat, empty folder) and no interview: still ship. Invent from the folder name and any README. Do not stall for a brief.

0.5 Interview category (skip unless chosen)

Only when they passed interview. You choose the category; the agent decides the questions.

• After the sniff, ask only what context cannot answer.
• One question at a time. Wait. Multiple questions at once is bewildering.
• Each question includes a recommended answer. They can take it, replace it, or say just go to skip the rest and build.
• Questions come from the note bank (device / awe / craft / effect) — not “what style” or “any preferences?”
• If the codebase can answer, Read/Grep instead of asking.
• Cap 4 questions, then build. Do not leave the session in interview forever.

0.75 Adjacent possible (private)

From the parts already in this repo or thread, name one unused combination. That is the leap candidate. Do not dump a mood board.

Pick one SCAMPER letter as the mutation (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse). Do not run all seven in chat.

1. Four notes

From references/notes.md: one Device, one Awe, one Craft, one Effect. Mutations name a cut, plate, magnet, withheld title, first-run beat, API shape, or demo — not “cinematic.”

/inspire-me: bias Awe toward moral beauty / invitation / reflective Tuesday.
/awe-me: bias Awe toward vastness + accommodation / small self / epiphany.

Keltner’s wonders include moral beauty, nature, music, visual design, spirit, big ideas, collective, birth/death. Visual design is one of eight. Do not default to pictures.

Do not dump the bank in chat.

2. Form router

Follow references/forms.md unless a category forced the family.

Form follows the leap:

• Capability in this codebase → implement here (plus a tiny proof: test, CLI, fail-demo).
• Seeing-tool (infographic, weenie, canvas, explainer HTML) → <workspace>/awe/<yyyy-mm-dd>-<slug>/ or inspire/ for /inspire-me.
• Never hide a product feature inside awe/ as a souvenir.

3. Build

Include a 5-line README.md next to one-shot folders: what it is, how to run/open, which note drove it. In-place code changes: the proof (test or demo command) is the README.

Hero craft (any form):

• One magnet in the first encounter (weenie, first-run command, first sentence, first failing-then-green demo)
• Real content from this context — no lorem, no fake stats, no invented APIs
• Effect before method: they should be able to say what happened, not only how you did it
• Withhold the label until the artifact has done work, unless /inspire-me needs the door labeled

Stretch (required in the report): one thing they did not know was in bounds. Build when it is one extra file or a small sibling; otherwise give the exact next slash (/awe-me 3js, /awe-me cli, …).

4. --full plus-pass

After the hero exists: re-read it. Apply one plus (criticism that contains a new move). Do not restart. Do not add a second product.

5. Verify

• Path exists. Report it as a markdown link.
• Code/CLI: the command or test actually ran; paste the exit or the proving line.
• Visual: file is well-formed (viewBox on SVG; HTML opens; no required CDN if offline was implied).
• Prose: the piece is a file they can keep, not only chat.
• Protocol: a spec they can implement or a spike that runs — not only a metaphor.

6. Report

AWE: shipped | partial | blocked
Mode: awe-me | inspire-me
About: <one sentence>
Hero: <path + how to run/open>
Stretch: <what they didn't know was possible>
Notes: <only if --notes>
Verified: <what you actually ran, opened, or checked>

Lead the user-facing reply with the artifact and the stretch, not the protocol.

Must not

• Ship a bullet list instead of an artifact
• Treat “awe” as graphics-only
• Interview without the interview category
• Ask “what style do you want?”
• Use wow, “make it pop”, or shock-as-strategy
• Call paid image/video APIs without asking
• Clone Dribbble / Collect UI as the idea
• Fake calligraphy or fake stats
• Scaffold a greenfield app into an unrelated repo without being asked