brainstorming

Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Help turn ideas into fully formed designs through collaborative dialogue.

When this skill activates, present a design before writing code. The design can be short (a few sentences for simple projects) — scale it to the complexity of the task. Get the user's approval before proceeding to implementation.

Process

1. Explore context — check files, docs, recent commits
2. Ask clarifying questions — one at a time, prefer multiple choice, understand purpose/constraints/success criteria
3. Propose 2-3 approaches — with trade-offs and your recommendation
4. Present design — scale each section to its complexity, ask after each section if it looks right
5. Write spec — save to docs/specs/ (create directory if needed) and commit
6. User reviews spec — wait for approval before proceeding
7. Transition — invoke writing-plans skill to create implementation plan

Design Principles

• One question at a time — don't overwhelm with multiple questions
• YAGNI ruthlessly — remove unnecessary features
• Design for isolation — break into units with one clear purpose, well-defined interfaces, testable independently
• Explore alternatives — always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
• Scope check — if the request describes multiple independent subsystems, decompose into sub-projects first

Working in Existing Codebases

• 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 Design Approval

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