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brainstorming_obra skill

/skills/brainstorming_obra

This skill helps you brainstorm ideas into concrete designs through guided questions, multiple approaches, and incremental validation.

This is most likely a fork of the brainstorming skill from mosif16
npx playbooks add skill jackspace/claudeskillz --skill brainstorming_obra

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (3)
SKILL.md
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---
name: brainstorming
description: Use when creating or developing, before writing code or implementation plans - refines rough ideas into fully-formed designs through collaborative questioning, alternative exploration, and incremental validation. Don't use during clear 'mechanical' processes
---

# Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

## Overview

Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.

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 in small sections (200-300 words), checking after each section whether it looks right so far.

## The Process

**Understanding the idea:**
- Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)
- Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea
- Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too
- Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions
- Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria

**Exploring approaches:**
- Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs
- Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning
- Lead with your recommended option and explain why

**Presenting the design:**
- Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design
- Break it into sections of 200-300 words
- Ask after each section whether it looks right so far
- Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing
- Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense

## After the Design

**Documentation:**
- Write the validated design to `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md`
- Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available
- Commit the design document to git

**Implementation (if continuing):**
- Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?"
- Use superpowers:using-git-worktrees to create isolated workspace
- Use superpowers:writing-plans to create detailed implementation plan

## Key Principles

- **One question at a time** - Don't overwhelm with multiple questions
- **Multiple choice preferred** - Easier to answer than open-ended when possible
- **YAGNI ruthlessly** - Remove unnecessary features from all designs
- **Explore alternatives** - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
- **Incremental validation** - Present design in sections, validate each
- **Be flexible** - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense

Overview

This skill refines rough ideas into fully formed designs and specs through collaborative, question-driven dialogue. It guides users from initial context discovery to validated design sections, prioritizing clarity, trade-off analysis, and incremental validation. Use this before coding or creating implementation plans, not for routine mechanical tasks.

How this skill works

First, the skill inspects the current project context (files, docs, recent commits) and asks focused, single-topic questions to clarify purpose, constraints, and success criteria. It then proposes 2–3 alternative approaches with trade-offs, recommends a preferred option, and presents the chosen design in small, 200–300 word sections. After each section it asks for confirmation and iterates until the design is validated, then drafts a formal design document and offers to prepare an implementation plan.

When to use it

  • Starting a new feature or project and you need a clear design before implementation
  • Refining an ambiguous idea into concrete architecture and component specs
  • Exploring multiple approaches and trade-offs before committing to one
  • Preparing a design document for teammates or for future implementation
  • Validating assumptions and acceptance criteria incrementally with stakeholders

Best practices

  • Share the current project context (files, docs, recent commits) before starting
  • Answer one question at a time; prefer multiple-choice when possible
  • Keep scope minimal: apply YAGNI and remove nonessential features
  • Request the design in small sections and confirm after each section
  • Ask for trade-off comparisons when presented with an approach

Example use cases

  • Designing the architecture for a new microservice including data flow and error handling
  • Turning a research idea into a reproducible analysis pipeline with testing strategy
  • Choosing between cloud deployment patterns (serverless, containers, VMs) with pros and cons
  • Preparing a concise design doc before a sprint planning meeting
  • Refining bioinformatics workflow requirements into a validated implementation plan

FAQ

Can the skill generate the full implementation after the design?

Yes — after the design is validated it can prepare an implementation plan and create isolated workspaces, but implementation should be requested explicitly.

How are questions presented during discovery?

Questions are posed one at a time, favoring multiple-choice options to speed alignment; open-ended questions are used when nuance is required.