{"id":"a51fc404-0e62-4cfb-aecb-8806e482cb7a","shortId":"sHahVW","kind":"skill","title":"brainstorming","tagline":"Use this before any creative work — creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Use when user asks to design, plan, or think through a feature before implementing. Explores intent, requirements, and design through collaborative dialogue.","description":"# Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs\n\n## Overview\n\nHelp turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.\n\nStart 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.\n\n> **Design 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.\n\n## Anti-Pattern: \"This Is Too Simple To Need A Design\"\n\nEvery 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.\n\n## Checklist\n\nYou MUST create a task for each of these items and complete them in order:\n\n1. **Explore project context** — check files, docs, recent commits\n2. **Ask clarifying questions** — one at a time, understand purpose/constraints/success criteria\n3. **Propose 2-3 approaches** — with trade-offs and your recommendation\n4. **Present design** — in sections scaled to their complexity, get user approval after each section\n5. **Write design doc** — save to `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md` and commit\n6. **Transition to implementation** — invoke writing-plans skill to create implementation plan\n\n## Process Flow\n\n```dot\ndigraph brainstorming {\n    \"Explore project context\" [shape=box];\n    \"Ask clarifying questions\" [shape=box];\n    \"Propose 2-3 approaches\" [shape=box];\n    \"Present design sections\" [shape=box];\n    \"User approves design?\" [shape=diamond];\n    \"Write design doc\" [shape=box];\n    \"Invoke writing-plans skill\" [shape=doublecircle];\n\n    \"Explore project context\" -> \"Ask clarifying questions\";\n    \"Ask clarifying questions\" -> \"Propose 2-3 approaches\";\n    \"Propose 2-3 approaches\" -> \"Present design sections\";\n    \"Present design sections\" -> \"User approves design?\";\n    \"User approves design?\" -> \"Present design sections\" [label=\"no, revise\"];\n    \"User approves design?\" -> \"Write design doc\" [label=\"yes\"];\n    \"Write design doc\" -> \"Invoke writing-plans skill\";\n}\n```\n\n**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.\n\n## The Process\n\n**Understanding the idea:**\n- Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)\n- Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea\n- Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too\n- Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions\n- Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria\n\n**Exploring approaches:**\n- Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs\n- Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning\n- Lead with your recommended option and explain why\n\n**Presenting the design:**\n- Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design\n- Scale each section to its complexity: a few sentences if straightforward, up to 200-300 words if nuanced\n- Ask after each section whether it looks right so far\n- Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing\n- Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense\n\n## After the Design\n\n**Documentation:**\n- Write the validated design to `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md`\n- Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available\n- Commit the design document to git\n\n**Implementation:**\n- Invoke the writing-plans skill to create a detailed implementation plan\n- Do NOT invoke any other skill. writing-plans is the next step.\n\n## Key Principles\n\n- **One question at a time** - Don't overwhelm with multiple questions\n- **Multiple choice preferred** - Easier to answer than open-ended when possible\n- **YAGNI ruthlessly** - Remove unnecessary features from all designs\n- **Explore alternatives** - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling\n- **Incremental validation** - Present design, get approval before moving on\n- **Be flexible** - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense\n\n## Examples\n\n### Example 1: Simple Component Design\nUser: \"Create a button component\"\nProcess: Ask about variants (primary/secondary), sizes, states (hover/disabled), accessibility needs\nDesign: Present component API, styling approach, test strategy\nOutput: Design doc saved, ready for implementation\n\n### Example 2: Feature Design\nUser: \"Add user authentication\"\nProcess: Ask about auth method (OAuth/credentials), scope (login only or full session), integrations needed\nDesign: Present architecture, data flow, security considerations, testing approach\nOutput: Design doc saved, ready for implementation\n\n### Example 3: Refactoring Design\nUser: \"Reorganize the component folder structure\"\nProcess: Ask about current pain points, desired organization, migration strategy\nDesign: Present new structure, migration plan, impact analysis\nOutput: Design doc saved, ready for implementation\n\n## Troubleshooting\n\n### Issue: User says \"just build it, I'll figure it out as we go\"\nSolution: Explain that design prevents rework. Even 5 minutes of design saves 30+ minutes of rework. Present a quick design anyway.\n\n### Issue: Design seems too simple to need documentation\nSolution: Document it anyway. Simple designs are where assumptions cause the most wasted work. Keep it brief (few sentences) but write it.\n\n### Issue: User approves design but wants changes during implementation\nSolution: This is expected. Go back to brainstorming, revise design, get new approval, then implement revised design.","tags":["brainstorming","synapse","deve1993","agent-skills","ai-agents","ai-coding","ai-workspace","anti-poisoning","auto-learning-ai","automation","claude-code","code-quality"],"capabilities":["skill","source-deve1993","skill-brainstorming","topic-agent-skills","topic-ai-agents","topic-ai-coding","topic-ai-workspace","topic-anti-poisoning","topic-auto-learning-ai","topic-automation","topic-claude-code","topic-code-quality","topic-cursor","topic-developer-tools","topic-devops"],"categories":["Synapse"],"synonyms":[],"warnings":[],"endpointUrl":"https://skills.sh/deve1993/Synapse/brainstorming","protocol":"skill","transport":"skills-sh","auth":{"type":"none","details":{"cli":"npx skills add deve1993/Synapse","source_repo":"https://github.com/deve1993/Synapse","install_from":"skills.sh"}},"qualityScore":"0.453","qualityRationale":"deterministic score 0.45 from registry signals: · indexed on github 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