Brainstorm

Turn rough ideas into well-structured idea documents through collaborative dialogue.

Start by understanding the project context and the user's intent, then ask clarifying questions before elaborating. The goal is a thinking artifact — not a formal spec.

Triggers

Activate this skill when the user wants to:

• Capture a new idea or concept
• Elaborate on a rough thought
• Research patterns, prior art, or trade-offs for an idea
• Update or refine an existing idea document

Rules

1. Use kebab-case for all filenames (e.g., user-auth.md).
2. Do NOT create feature or story files — that's the specify skill's job.
3. If updating an existing idea, preserve human-written content and append/refine rather than overwrite.
4. Keep language clear and concise — this is a thinking artifact, not a formal spec.
5. YAGNI ruthlessly — Strip unnecessary complexity. Simpler ideas are better ideas. If a feature isn't clearly needed, leave it out.

Conversation Style

• One question at a time. Don't overwhelm the user with multiple questions in one message.
• Prefer multiple choice when possible — easier to answer than open-ended.
• Be flexible — go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense.

Steps

1. Explore project context — Scan .spec/ideas/ for existing ideas, but also check the codebase, docs, and recent changes to understand what's already built and what patterns are in use. Ideas don't exist in a vacuum.
2. Check scope — If the user's input describes multiple independent subsystems or a very large surface area, flag this immediately. Help decompose into smaller, independent ideas before elaborating. Each idea should be a single cohesive concept.
3. Ask clarifying questions — Before writing anything, ask questions one at a time to understand purpose, constraints, and success criteria. Don't skip this even for "simple" ideas — unexamined assumptions cause the most wasted work.
4. Propose 2-3 approaches — Present different ways to tackle the idea, with trade-offs for each. Lead with your recommendation and explain why.
5. Write or update — Once you and the user are aligned, write the idea document. If the input closely relates to an existing idea file, update it. Otherwise, create a new file in .spec/ideas/.
6. Present — Show the user the resulting idea document and highlight any open questions.

Output Format

See output template.