Related skills: Consider /skill:using-git-worktrees to set up an isolated workspace, then /skill:writing-plans for implementation planning.

Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Overview

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 in small sections (200-300 words), checking after each section whether it looks right so far.

Boundaries

• Read code and docs: yes
• Write to docs/plans/: yes
• Edit or create any other files: no

The Process

Before anything else — check git state:

• Run git status and git log --oneline -5
• If on a feature branch with uncommitted or unmerged work, ask the user:
  • "You're on <branch> with uncommitted changes. Want to finish/merge that first, stash it, or continue here?"
• Require exactly one of: finish prior work, stash, or explicitly continue here
• If the topic is new, suggest creating a new branch before brainstorming

Understanding the idea:

• Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)
• Check if the codebase or ecosystem already solves this before designing from scratch
• 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

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
• Break it into sections of 200-300 words
• Ask after each section whether it looks right so far
• Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing
• Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense

After the Design

Documentation:

• Write the validated design to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md
• Commit the design document to git
• Mark the brainstorm phase complete: call plan_tracker with {action: "update", status: "complete"} for the current phase

Implementation (if continuing):

• Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?"
• Set up isolated workspace — /skill:using-git-worktrees for larger work, or just create a branch for small changes
• Use /skill:writing-plans to create detailed implementation plan

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
• Design for testability - Favor approaches with clear boundaries that are easy to verify with TDD
• Explore alternatives - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
• Incremental validation - Present design in sections, validate each
• Be flexible - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense