team-brainstorm-guard

name	team-brainstorm-guard
description	Use when exploring requirements, doing deep design exploration, or brainstorming before proposing. Guards OpenSpec environment and brainstorm output location.

Team Brainstorm Guard

Core Principle

Exploration phase creates design artifacts only (brainstorm.md). No implementation, no proposal.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• Requirements are vague and need deep exploration
• Need to understand existing system implementation
• Need to compare multiple approaches
• Need structured brainstorming before /team-propose
• Problem is complex enough to warrant design exploration

Do NOT use this skill when:

• Problem is already clear, change-id is decided → go directly to /team-propose
• Creating proposals or OpenSpec artifacts (use team-openspec-guard)
• Implementing code (use team-implementation-guard)

Gate 0: OpenSpec CLI Availability (Mandatory — Check First)

Before any OpenSpec operation, verify the CLI is installed and accessible:

openspec --version

If the command fails (not found / not recognized):

1. STOP — do not proceed with any OpenSpec operations
2. Tell the user:

   OpenSpec CLI is not installed or not in PATH. Install it first:

   npm install -g @fission-ai/openspec
   

   Then verify with openspec --version.

If the command succeeds, proceed to Gate 1.

Gate 1: OpenSpec Directory Access (Mandatory)

Run openspec list to verify the openspec directory is accessible.

If the command fails:

1. STOP — the openspec directory is not accessible
2. Tell the user:

   OpenSpec directory is not accessible from the project root. Initialize it first:

   openspec init --tools none .
   

   Then verify with openspec list.

If the command succeeds, proceed to Gate 2.

Gate 2: Brainstorm Output Location (Mandatory)

All brainstorm output MUST write to openspec/changes/<change-id>/brainstorm.md.

DO NOT write to:

• docs/superpowers/specs/
• Any other location

This ensures OpenSpec can track and validate the design artifact.

Brainstorming Process

After gates pass, invoke superpowers:brainstorming skill via Skill tool.

The brainstorming skill will:

1. Explore project context (files, docs, recent commits)
2. Offer visual companion (if topic involves visual questions)
3. Ask clarifying questions — one at a time
4. Propose 2-3 approaches with trade-offs and recommendation
5. Present design sections, get approval after each section

IMPORTANT output redirection:

• Do NOT write to docs/superpowers/specs/. Instead, write the brainstorming design output directly to openspec/changes/<change-id>/brainstorm.md.

Spec Self-Review

After writing brainstorm.md, perform self-review:

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

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Writing code during exploration	Design only, no implementation
Skipping openspec environment check	Must verify CLI and directory first
Writing to docs/superpowers/specs/	Write to openspec/changes//brainstorm.md
Not following brainstorming skill process	Invoke superpowers:brainstorming and follow its checklist
Finalizing with unresolved hard blockers	Keep hard blockers in Open Questions section

Bad Cases

When this skill fails, record in badCases/ directory:

• Input: what the user said
• Wrong output: what the AI did that it shouldn't have
• Expected output: what it should have done
• New rule needed: how to prevent recurrence

See badCases/ for case history.