brainstorming

name	brainstorming
description	You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Explores user intent, requirements and design before implementation.
argument-hint	Describe the idea, feature or change you want to explore.

Progressive Disclosure

Level 1 - Metadata (Auto-Loaded)

The YAML frontmatter keys name and description are the discovery signal loaded automatically.

Level 2 - Full Instructions

The remaining SKILL.md body is the complete skill guidance and is loaded on demand.

Level 3 - Referenced Supporting Files

• None.

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.

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.

Anti-Pattern: "This Is Too Simple To Need A Design"

Every feature goes through this process. A new slice, a single service method, a config change — all of them. "Simple" changes are where unexamined assumptions cause the most wasted work. The design can be short (a few sentences for truly simple changes), but you MUST present it and get approval.

Checklist

You MUST create a task for each of these items and complete them in order:

1. Explore project context — check files, docs, recent commits, existing slices
2. Ask clarifying questions — one at a time, understand purpose/constraints/success criteria
3. Propose 2-3 approaches — with trade-offs and your recommendation
4. Present design — in sections scaled to their complexity, get user approval after each section
5. Write design doc — save to docs/superpowers/specs/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md and commit
6. Spec self-review — quick inline check for placeholders, contradictions, ambiguity, scope
7. User reviews written spec — ask user to review the spec file before proceeding
8. Transition to implementation — invoke writing-plans skill to create implementation plan

The Process

Understanding the idea:

• Check out the current project state first (existing slices, kernel, host.py, pyproject.toml)
• Before asking detailed questions, assess scope: if the request describes multiple independent subsystems, flag this immediately
• 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
• Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria

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
• Scale each section to its complexity: a few sentences if straightforward, up to 200-300 words if nuanced
• Ask after each section whether it looks right so far
• Cover: architecture (which slices involved), data flow, policy gating, error handling, testing
• Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense

Design for DevCD's architecture rules:

• Each feature lives in its own slice under devcd/slices/<slice_name>/
• Shared code only in devcd/kernel/ when ≥2 slices need it
• Every state-changing operation must be explainable through a policy decision
• Local-first: no remote export without explicit policy
• Observation allowed by default; mutations denied by default

Working in existing slices:

• Explore the current structure before proposing changes. Follow existing patterns.
• Where existing code has problems that affect the work, include targeted improvements as part of the design
• Don't propose unrelated refactoring. Stay focused on what serves the current goal.

After the Design

Documentation:

• Write the validated design (spec) to docs/superpowers/specs/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md
• Commit the design document to git

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?
3. Scope check: Is this focused enough for a single implementation plan?
4. Ambiguity check: Could any requirement be interpreted two different ways?
5. Policy check: Does every state-changing operation have a clear policy decision path?

Fix any issues inline.

User Review Gate: After the spec review loop passes, ask the user to review the written spec before proceeding:

"Spec written and committed to <path>. Please review it and let me know if you want to make any changes before we start writing out the implementation plan."

Wait for the user's response. Only proceed once the user approves.

Implementation:

• Invoke the writing-plans skill to create a detailed implementation plan
• Do NOT invoke any other skill. writing-plans is the next step.

Key Principles

• One question at a time — Don't overwhelm with multiple questions
• Multiple choice preferred — Easier to answer than open-ended when possible
• YAGNI ruthlessly — Remove unnecessary features from all designs
• Explore alternatives — Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
• Incremental validation — Present design, get approval before moving on
• Policy-first thinking — Every mutation needs a policy decision path