brainstorming

Name: brainstorming
Author: obra

byobra· 95 skills

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How to install brainstorming?

obra/superpowers/brainstorming

$npx -y skills add obra/superpowers --skill brainstorming

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Run `npx skills use "https://github.com/obra/superpowers" --skill "obra/superpowers/brainstorming"` and follow the generated skill instructions now. Read its complete output, redirecting it to a temporary file first if necessary. Resolve relative paths from the supporting-files directory it provides.

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Use the skills in "https://github.com/obra/superpowers" that are relevant to the current task. Run `npx skills add "https://github.com/obra/superpowers"` and select the relevant skills, then follow their instructions.

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SKILL.md

1	# Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs
2
3	Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.
4
5	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.
6
7	<HARD-GATE>
8	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.
9	</HARD-GATE>
10
11	## Anti-Pattern: "This Is Too Simple To Need A Design"
12
13	Every project goes through this process. A todo list, a single-function utility, a config change — all of them. "Simple" projects are where unexamined assumptions cause the most wasted work. The design can be short (a few sentences for truly simple projects), but you MUST present it and get approval.
14
15	## Checklist
16
17	You MUST create a task for each of these items and complete them in order:
18
19	1. Explore project context — check files, docs, recent commits
20	2. Offer the visual companion just-in-time — NOT upfront. The first time a question would genuinely be clearer shown than described, offer it then (its own message); on approval its browser tab opens for you. If no visual question ever arises, never offer it. See the Visual Companion section below.
21	3. Ask clarifying questions — one at a time, understand purpose/constraints/success criteria
22	4. Propose 2-3 approaches — with trade-offs and your recommendation
23	5. Present design — in sections scaled to their complexity, get user approval after each section
24	6. Write design doc — save to `docs/superpowers/specs/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md` and commit
25	7. Spec self-review — quick inline check for placeholders, contradictions, ambiguity, scope (see below)
26	8. User reviews written spec — ask user to review the spec file before proceeding
27	9. Transition to implementation — invoke writing-plans skill to create implementation plan
28
29	## Process Flow
30
31	```dot
32	digraph brainstorming {
33	"Explore project context" [shape=box];
34	"Ask clarifying questions" [shape=box];
35	"Propose 2-3 approaches" [shape=box];
36	"Present design sections" [shape=box];
37	"User approves design?" [shape=diamond];
38	"Write design doc" [shape=box];
39	"Spec self-review\n(fix inline)" [shape=box];
40	"User reviews spec?" [shape=diamond];
41	"Invoke writing-plans skill" [shape=doublecircle];
42
43	"Explore project context" -> "Ask clarifying questions";
44	"Ask clarifying questions" -> "Propose 2-3 approaches";
45	"Propose 2-3 approaches" -> "Present design sections";
46	"Present design sections" -> "User approves design?";
47	"User approves design?" -> "Present design sections" [label="no, revise"];
48	"User approves design?" -> "Write design doc" [label="yes"];
49	"Write design doc" -> "Spec self-review\n(fix inline)";
50	"Spec self-review\n(fix inline)" -> "User reviews spec?";
51	"User reviews spec?" -> "Write design doc" [label="changes requested"];
52	"User reviews spec?" -> "Invoke writing-plans skill" [label="approved"];
53	}
54	```
55
56	The terminal state is invoking writing-plans. Do NOT invoke frontend-design, mcp-builder, or any other implementation skill. The ONLY skill you invoke after brainstorming is writing-plans.
57
58	## The Process
59
60	Understanding the idea:
61
62	- Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)
63	- Before asking detailed questions, assess scope: if the request describes multiple independent subsystems (e.g., "build a platform with chat, file storage, billing, and analytics"), flag this immediately. Don't spend questions refining details of a project that needs to be decomposed first.
64	- If the project is too large for a single spec, help the user decompose into sub-projects: what are the independent pieces, how do they relate, what order should they be built? Then brainstorm the first sub-project through the normal design flow. Each sub-project gets its own spec → plan → implementation cycle.
65	- For appropriately-scoped projects, ask questions one at a time to refine the idea
66	- Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too
67	- Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions
68	- Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria
69
70	Exploring approaches:
71
72	- Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs
73	- Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning
74	- Lead with your recommended option and explain why
75	- YAGNI ruthlessly - remove unnecessary features from every approach and design
76
77	Presenting the design:
78
79	- Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design
80	- Scale each section to its complexity: a few sentences if straightforward, up to 200-300 words if nuanced
81	- Ask after each section whether it looks right so far
82	- Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing
83	- Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense
84
85	Design for isolation and clarity:
86
87	- Break the system into smaller units that each have one clear purpose, communicate through well-defined interfaces, and can be understood and tested independently
88	- For each unit, you should be able to answer: what does it do, how do you use it, and what does it depend on?
89	- Can someone understand what a unit does without reading its internals? Can you change the internals without breaking consumers? If not, the boundaries need work.
90	- Smaller, well-bounded units are also easier for you to work with - you reason better about code you can hold in context at once, and your edits are more reliable when files are focused. When a file grows large, that's often a signal that it's doing too much.
91
92	Working in existing codebases:
93
94	- Explore the current structure before proposing changes. Follow existing patterns.
95	- Where existing code has problems that affect the work (e.g., a file that's grown too large, unclear boundaries, tangled responsibilities), include targeted improvements as part of the design - the way a good developer improves code they're working in.
96	- Don't propose unrelated refactoring. Stay focused on what serves the current goal.
97
98	## After the Design
99
100	Documentation:
101
102	- Write the validated design (spec) to `docs/superpowers/specs/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md`
103	- (User preferences for spec location override this default)
104	- Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available
105	- Commit the design document to git
106
107	Spec Self-Review:
108	After writing the spec document, look at it with fresh eyes:
109
110	1. Placeholder scan: Any "TBD", "TODO", incomplete sections, or vague requirements? Fix them.
111	2. Internal consistency: Do any sections contradict each other? Does the architecture match the feature descriptions?
112	3. Scope check: Is this focused enough for a single implementation plan, or does it need decomposition?
113	4. Ambiguity check: Could any requirement be interpreted two different ways? If so, pick one and make it explicit.
114
115	Fix any issues inline. No need to re-review — just fix and move on.
116
117	User Review Gate:
118	After the spec review loop passes, ask the user to review the written spec before proceeding:
119
120	> "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."
121
122	Wait for the user's response. If they request changes, make them and re-run the spec review loop. Only proceed once the user approves.
123
124	Implementation:
125
126	- Invoke the writing-plans skill to create a detailed implementation plan
127	- Do NOT invoke any other skill. writing-plans is the next step.
128
129	## Visual Companion
130
131	A browser-based companion for showing mockups, diagrams, and visual options during brainstorming. Available as a tool — not a mode. Accepting the companion means it's available for questions that benefit from visual treatment; it does NOT mean every question goes through the browser.
132
133	Offering the companion (just-in-time): Do NOT offer it upfront. Wait until a question would genuinely be clearer shown than told — a real mockup / layout / diagram question, not merely a UI topic. The first time that happens, offer it then, as its own message:
134	> "This next part might be easier if I show you — I can put together mockups, diagrams, and comparisons in a browser tab as we go. It's still new and can be token-intensive. Want me to? I'll open it for you."
135
136	This offer MUST be its own message. Only the offer — no clarifying question, summary, or other content. Wait for the user's response. If they accept, start the server with `--open` so their browser opens to the first screen automatically. If they decline, continue text-only and don't offer again unless they raise it.
137
138	Per-question decision: Even after the user accepts, decide FOR EACH QUESTION whether to use the browser or the terminal. The test: would the user understand this better by seeing it than reading it?
139
140	- Use the browser for content that IS visual — mockups, wireframes, layout comparisons, architecture diagrams, side-by-side visual designs
141	- Use the terminal for content that is text — requirements questions, conceptual choices, tradeoff lists, A/B/C/D text options, scope decisions
142
143	A question about a UI topic is not automatically a visual question. "What does personality mean in this context?" is a conceptual question — use the terminal. "Which wizard layout works better?" is a visual question — use the browser.
144
145	If they agree to the companion, read the detailed guide before proceeding:
146	`skills/brainstorming/visual-companion.md`

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Run `npx skills use "https://github.com/obra/superpowers" --skill "obra/superpowers/brainstorming"` and follow the generated skill instructions now. Read its complete output, redirecting it to a temporary file first if necessary. Resolve relative paths from the supporting-files directory it provides.

Use the skills in "https://github.com/obra/superpowers" that are relevant to the current task. Run `npx skills add "https://github.com/obra/superpowers"` and select the relevant skills, then follow their instructions.

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