compose:brainstorm

Start by exploring the current project context, then answer clarifying questions one at a time about purpose, constraints, and success criteria. The process proposes 2-3 approaches with trade-offs and presents design sections for your approval before any code is written.

A design approval gate is a hard checkpoint that blocks implementation until you approve a presented design. Each design section is reviewed individually, and only after approval does the workflow write a spec and move to implementation planning.

Yes, every project goes through the process regardless of perceived simplicity. For small changes the design can be a few sentences kept in conversation, and the written spec step is skipped, but approval is still required.

An autonomous override applies: the approval gates are treated as auto-approved, design presentation and spec writing are skipped, and the workflow proceeds directly from context exploration to implementation planning.

Decompose when a request describes multiple independent subsystems, such as a platform with chat, storage, and billing. Each sub-project gets its own brainstorm, spec, plan, and implementation cycle rather than one oversized design.