What problem does it solves?
This Skill transforms rough ideas into fully-formed, validated designs through structured Socratic questioning, alternative exploration, and incremental validation. It prevents premature coding and costly rework by ensuring a solid design foundation.
Core Features & Use Cases
- Structured Socratic Questioning: Guides you through understanding purpose, constraints, and success criteria by asking one question at a time, using the
AskUserQuestion tool for clear choices.
- Alternative Exploration: Forces the proposal and evaluation of 2-3 different architectural approaches with their trade-offs, ensuring a well-considered solution.
- Incremental Design Validation: Presents the design in small, manageable sections, asking for open-ended feedback after each to ensure alignment and catch issues early.
- Use Case: When you have a vague idea for a new feature, this skill will systematically guide you from initial concept to a fully documented, approved design, ready for implementation, without writing a single line of code prematurely.
Quick Start
Example: Refining a new feature idea
You: I'm using the brainstorming skill to refine your idea into a design.
Phase 1: Understanding
- Check current project state.
- Ask ONE question at a time (e.g., "What is the primary purpose of this feature?").
- Use AskUserQuestion tool when you have multiple choice options.
Phase 2: Exploration
- Propose 2-3 different architectural approaches (e.g., "Event-driven with message queue" vs. "Direct API calls").
- Use AskUserQuestion tool to present approaches as structured choices.
Phase 3: Design Presentation
- Present design in 200-300 word sections (e.g., "Architecture Overview", "Data Flow").
- Ask after each section: "Does this look right so far?" (open-ended).
Phase 4: Design Documentation
- Write validated design to docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md.
- Use writing-clearly-and-concisely skill (if available).
Phase 5: Worktree Setup (if implementing)
- Use superpowers:using-git-worktrees.
Phase 6: Planning Handoff (if implementing)
- Use superpowers:writing-plans.
