/creative-ideation

title: Creative Ideation — Constraint-Driven Project Generation
description: Generate project ideas through creative constraints. Use when the user
  says 'I want to build something', 'give me a project idea', 'I'm bored', 'what should
  I make', 'inspire me', or any variant of 'I have tools but no direction'. Works
  for code, art, hardware, writing, tools, and anything that can be made.
version: 1.0.0
author: SHL0MS
license: MIT
metadata:
  catalog:
    tags:
    - Creative
    - Ideation
    - Projects
    - Brainstorming
    - Inspiration
    category: creative
    requires_toolsets: []

Kheish Compatibility

This skill is repo-local and stays inactive until explicitly activated.

When the original instructions refer to legacy tool names, use these Kheish mappings:

• `terminal` => `bash`
• `web_extract` => `web_fetch`, plus `web_search` when discovery is needed
• `search_files` => `grep_search` and `glob_search`
• `browser_*` tools require a browser-capable surfaced tool or MCP; if none is available, use the closest available surface and say so explicitly

When the instructions mention local helper files, resolve them from `${KHEISH_SKILL_DIR}`.

Creative Ideation

Generate project ideas through creative constraints. Constraint + direction = creativity.

How It Works

1. **Pick a constraint** from the library below — random, or matched to the user's domain/mood 2. **Interpret it broadly** — a coding prompt can become a hardware project, an art prompt can become a CLI tool 3. **Generate 3 concrete project ideas** that satisfy the constraint 4. **If they pick one, build it** — create the project, write the code, ship it

The Rule

Every prompt is interpreted as broadly as possible. "Does this include X?" → Yes. The prompts provide direction and mild constraint. Without either, there is no creativity.

Constraint Library

For Developers

**Solve your own itch:** Build the tool you wished existed this week. Under 50 lines. Ship it today.

**Automate the annoying thing:** What's the most tedious part of your workflow? Script it away. Two hours to fix a problem that costs you five minutes a day.

**The CLI tool that should exist:** Think of a command you've wished you could type. `git undo-that-thing-i-just-did`. `docker why-is-this-broken`. `npm explain-yourself`. Now build it.

**Nothing new except glue:** Make something entirely from existing APIs, libraries, and datasets. The only original contribution is how you connect them.

**Frankenstein week:** Take something that does X and make it do Y. A git repo that plays music. A Dockerfile that generates poetry. A cron job that sends compliments.

**Subtract:** How much can you remove from a codebase before it breaks? Strip a tool to its minimum viable function. Delete until only the essence remains.

**High concept, low effort:** A deep idea, lazily executed. The concept should be brilliant. The implementation should take an afternoon. If it takes longer, you're overthinking it.

For Makers & Artists

**Blatantly copy something:** Pick something you admire — a tool, an artwork, an interface. Recreate it from scratch. The learning is in the gap between your version and theirs.

**One million of something:** One million is both a lot and not that much. One million pixels is a 1MB photo. One million API calls is a Tuesday. One million of anything becomes interesting at scale.

**Make something that dies:** A website that loses a feature every day. A chatbot that forgets. A countdown to nothing. An exercise in rot, killing, or letting go.

**Do a lot of math:** Generative geometry, shader golf, mathematical art, computational origami. Time to re-learn what an arcsin is.

For Anyone

**Text is the universal interface:** Build something where text is the only interface. No buttons, no graphics, just words in and words out. Text can go in and out of almost anything.

**Start at the punchline:** Think of something that would be a funny sentence. Work backwards to make it real. "I taught my thermostat to gaslight me" → now build it.

**Hostile UI:** Make something intentionally painful to use. A password field that requires 47 conditions. A form where every label lies. A CLI that judges your commands.

**Take two:** Remember an old project. Do it again from scratch. No looking at the original. See what changed about how you think.

See `references/full-prompt-library.md` for 30+ additional constraints across communication, scale, philosophy, transformation, and more.

Matching Constraints to Users

| User says | Pick from | |-----------|-----------| | "I want to build something" (no direction) | Random — any constraint | | "I'm learning [language]" | Blatantly copy something, Automate the annoying thing | | "I want something weird" | Hostile UI, Frankenstein week, Start at the punchline | | "I want something useful" | Solve your own itch, The CLI that should exist, Automate the annoying thing | | "I want something beautiful" | Do a lot of math, One million of something | | "I'm burned out" | High concept low effort, Make something that dies | | "Weekend project" | Nothing new except glue, Start at the punchline | | "I want a challenge" | One million of something, Subtract, Take two |

Output Format

## Constraint: [Name]
> [The constraint, one sentence]

### Ideas

1. **[One-line pitch]**
   [2-3 sentences: what you'd build and why it's interesting]
   ⏱ [weekend / week / month] • 🔧 [stack]

2. **[One-line pitch]**
   [2-3 sentences]
   ⏱ ... • 🔧 ...

3. **[One-line pitch]**
   [2-3 sentences]
   ⏱ ... • 🔧 ...

Example

## Constraint: The CLI tool that should exist
> Think of a command you've wished you could type. Now build it.

### Ideas

1. **`git whatsup` — show what happened while you were away**
   Compares your last active commit to HEAD and summarizes what changed,
   who committed, and what PRs merged. Like a morning standup from your repo.
   ⏱ weekend • 🔧 Python, GitPython, cli