adrozdenko/brainstorming

Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Turn ideas into fully formed designs through collaborative dialogue. Understand project context, ask questions one at a time, present a design, get approval.

<HARD-GATE> 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. </HARD-GATE>

Checklist

Complete in order:

1. Classify intent — salvador_core op:route_intent
2. Search vault for prior art — salvador_core op:search_intelligent
3. Search web for existing solutions — don't build what already exists
4. Explore project context — check files, docs, recent commits
5. Ask clarifying questions — one at a time, purpose/constraints/success criteria
6. Propose 2-3 approaches — with trade-offs and your recommendation
7. Present design — in sections scaled to complexity, get approval after each
8. Capture design decision — persist to vault
9. Write design doc — save to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md and commit
10. Transition — invoke writing-plans skill (the ONLY next skill)

Search Before Designing

Vault First

salvador_core op:search_intelligent
  params: { query: "<the feature or idea>" }

Also check: op:vault_tags, op:vault_domains, op:brain_strengths, op:memory_cross_project_search with crossProject: true.

Web Search Second

If vault has no prior art, search web for existing libraries, reference implementations, best practices, known pitfalls.

Present findings: "Before we design this, here's what I found..."

The Process

• Understanding: Check project state, ask one question per message, prefer multiple choice
• Exploring: Propose 2-3 approaches, lead with recommendation, reference vault patterns and web findings
• Presenting: Scale each section to complexity, ask after each section, cover architecture/components/data flow/error handling/testing

After the Design

Capture the decision:

salvador_core op:capture_knowledge
  params: {
    title: "<feature> — design decision",
    description: "<chosen approach, rationale, rejected alternatives>",
    type: "decision",
    category: "<domain>",
    tags: ["design-decision"]
  }

Write validated design to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md and commit. Then invoke writing-plans.

Common Mistakes

• Skipping vault search and reinventing solved problems
• Jumping to implementation without design approval
• Asking multiple questions per message (overwhelming)
• Treating "simple" projects as too simple to need a design

Quick Reference

| Op | When to Use | | ------------------------------ | -------------------------- | | route_intent | Classify work type | | search_intelligent | Search vault for prior art | | vault_tags / vault_domains | Browse knowledge landscape | | brain_strengths | Check proven patterns | | memory_cross_project_search | Check other projects | | capture_knowledge | Persist design decision |