chatwoot-develop/skills/brainstorming-ideas/SKILL.md

name	description
brainstorming-ideas	Explores user intent, requirements, and design before implementation. Use this before starting any creative work or new feature.

Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

When to use this skill

• When starting a new feature or component.
• When requirements are vague or high-level.
• Before writing any code for complex tasks.
• To clarify user intent and design architecture.

Workflow

• Understand Context: Read existing files, docs, and recent commits.
• Iterative Questions: Ask one question at a time to clarify requirements.
• Explore Approaches: Propose 2-3 different solutions with trade-offs.
• Draft Design: Present the design in small sections (200-300 words).
• Validate: Ask for confirmation after each section.
• Finalize: Commit the agreed design to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md.

Instructions

1. Understanding the Idea

• Check context first: Files, docs, recent commits.
• Ask ONE question at a time: Don't overwhelm.
• Prefer multiple choice: "Should we use A or B?" is better than "How should we do this?".
• Focus on: Purpose, limits, success criteria.

2. Exploring Approaches

• Always propose 2-3 options.
• Explain trade-offs for each.
• State your recommended option clearly at the beginning.

3. Presenting the Design

• Break it down into sections of 200-300 words.
• Pause after each section to ask: "Does this look right so far?"
• Sections to cover:
  • Architecture / Component Structure
  • Data Flow
  • Error Handling
  • Testing Strategy

4. After the Design

• Documentation: Save the validated design to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md.
• Handoff: Ask "Ready to set up for implementation?".
• Next Step: Suggest using the planning-work skill to create the implementation plan.

Key Principles

• One question at a time.
• YAGNI ruthlessly (Remove unnecessary features).
• Incremental validation.
• Be flexible: Clarify if typically doesn't make sense.