What problem does it solve? Developers often jump into implementation before fully understanding a problem, leading to rework and misaligned solutions. This Skill provides a structured thinking partner mode that helps you explore ideas, investigate your codebase, compare options, and clarify requirements before writing any code. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Guided Exploration Mode: Acts as a curious thinking partner that asks questions, challenges assumptions, and surfaces risks without following a rigid script. - Codebase Investigation: Reads project context files (DESCRIPTION.md, ARCHITECTURE.md, RULES.md, plans) and maps existing architecture to ground discussions in reality. - Visual Thinking: Generates ASCII diagrams, comparison tables, and architecture sketches to clarify complex problems. - Research Persistence: Optionally saves exploration summaries and session notes to a RESEARCH.md file so context survives across sessions and feeds into later planning. - Use Case: Before adding real-time collaboration to your app, enter explore mode to map the collaboration spectrum (presence, cursors, CRDTs), investigate your current architecture, and capture decisions for the planning phase. ## Quick Start Ask the AI to enter explore mode with a topic like "/aif-explore real-time collaboration" to think through the problem before implementing anything.
