/idea-discovery

description: Surface 3-5 next-direction candidates by reading ungraduated ideas, open project questions, and orphan research notes - what is worth working on next
category: thinking
triggers_en: ["what should I work on next", "idea discovery", "surface next directions", "what's worth pursuing"]
triggers_de: ["woran sollte ich als Nächstes arbeiten", "Ideen finden", "zeige mir mögliche nächste Schritte", "was lohnt sich weiterzuverfolgen"]
triggers_es: ["descubre ideas para seguir", "qué rumbos tomar", "qué vale la pena perseguir", "en qué me enfoco ahora", "dame ideas para seguir"]
triggers_pt: ["em que devo trabalhar agora", "descoberta de ideias", "mostre próximos caminhos", "o que vale a pena perseguir"]
triggers_zh: ["我接下来该做什么", "帮我找下一个方向", "有哪些想法值得继续", "从笔记里发现新方向"]

Use the obsidian-second-brain skill. Execute `/idea-discovery`:

Answers "what is worth doing next" from material already in the vault. Distinct from `/obsidian-emerge` (which names unstated patterns) and `/obsidian-graduate` (which promotes one chosen idea into a project) - this ranks several candidate directions so you can pick one.

1. Gather candidate signals - list and grep exhaustively (see the anti-fabrication rule):

• Ungraduated ideas in the ideas folder (resolved per `references/folder-map.md` - wiki-style `wiki/concepts/`, Obsidian-style `Ideas/`; status `captured` or `exploring`, not yet `graduated`).
• Open questions in active project notes (Open Questions sections, unresolved decisions).
• Orphan research notes in `Research/` that no project links to.

2. Rank the candidates by a simple, stated heuristic: recency (touched recently), pull (how many notes reference or depend on it), and momentum (does anything already build toward it). State the heuristic in the output so the ranking is auditable. 3. For each of the top 3-5, write: the candidate, why now, the `[[source notes]]`, and the smallest next step that would move it forward. 4. Optionally suggest running `/research [topic]` on a candidate to pull external signal before committing, or `/obsidian-graduate` to promote one into a full project. 5. Save the shortlist to the ideas folder resolved in step 1, as `YYYY-MM-DD - discovery.md` (`type: synthesis`, tagged `[synthesis, thinking, idea-discovery]`) with source links in frontmatter. Do NOT auto-graduate anything - this command only surfaces and ranks.

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**AI-first rule:** Every note created or updated by this command MUST follow `references/ai-first-rules.md` - `## For future agent` preamble, rich frontmatter (`type`, `date`, `tags`, `ai-first: true`, plus type-specific fields), recency markers per external claim, mandatory `[[wikilinks]]` for every person/project/concept referenced, sources preserved verbatim with URLs inline, and confidence levels where applicable. If that path does not resolve from your working directory, search upward for it; if you still cannot read it, say so before writing rather than producing a note that silently skips the rule. The vault is for future agent retrieval - not human reading.

**Anti-fabrication:** Rank only real candidates found in the vault - never invent an idea, an open question, or a research note to pad the shortlist. Enumerate the ideas folder, project Open Questions, and orphan research exhaustively rather than sampling. See the anti-fabrication and search-completeness hard rules in `references/ai-first-rules.md`.

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From [obsidian-second-brain](https://github.com/eugeniughelbur/obsidian-second-brain), created by Eugeniu Ghelbur (AI Automation Engineer, AI Tooling Engineer, AI Educator). Questions or consulting: [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/eugeniu-ghelbur/) or [e.ghelbur@gmail.com](mailto:e.ghelbur@gmail.com). More: [The AI Operator](https://theaioperator.io/?utm_source=github&utm_medium=file-credit) | [X](https://x.com/eugeniu_ghelbur) | [GitHub](https://github.com/eugeniughelbur). MIT license.