/brainstorm

command: brainstorm
disable-model-invocation: true
description: "Start a creative thought partner brainstorming session"

/octo:brainstorm

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLAUDE

MANDATORY COMPLIANCE — DO NOT SKIP

**When the user invokes `/octo:brainstorm`, you MUST ask the mode selection question below BEFORE starting the session.** Do NOT default to Solo mode. Do NOT skip the question. The user must choose.

---

Step 1: Ask Mode (MANDATORY)

You MUST use AskUserQuestion to ask this BEFORE doing anything else:

AskUserQuestion({
  questions: [
    {
      question: "How should we brainstorm?",
      header: "Mode",
      multiSelect: false,
      options: [
        {label: "Solo", description: "Claude-only thought partner session — fast and focused"},
        {label: "Team", description: "Multi-AI brainstorm — diverse perspectives from multiple providers"}
      ]
    }
  ]
})

**WAIT for the user's answer before proceeding.**

---

Step 2: Run the Selected Mode

If Solo Mode selected:

Standard thought partner session using four breakthrough techniques:

• Pattern Spotting, Paradox Hunting, Naming the Unnamed, Contrast Creation

**Session flow:** 1. Frame the exploration topic 2. Guided questioning (one question at a time — do NOT dump multiple questions) 3. Challenge generic claims until specific 4. Collaboratively name discovered concepts 5. Export session with breakthroughs summary

**See:** skill-thought-partner for full documentation.

If Team Mode selected:

Step 2a: Display Visual Indicator Banner (MANDATORY)

**You MUST output this banner before doing anything else.** This is NOT optional — users need to see which AI providers are active and understand cost implications.

**MANDATORY: First, use the Bash tool to check provider availability:**

set -euo pipefail

echo "PROVIDER_CHECK_START"
printf "codex:%s\n" "$(command -v codex >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "perplexity:%s\n" "$([ -n "${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY:-}" ] && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "opencode:%s\n" "$(command -v opencode >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "copilot:%s\n" "$(command -v copilot >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "qwen:%s\n" "$(command -v qwen >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "ollama:%s\n" "$(command -v ollama >/dev/null 2>&1 && curl -sf http://localhost:11434/api/tags >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "openrouter:%s\n" "$([ -n "${OPENROUTER_API_KEY:-}" ] && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "agy:%s\n" "$(command -v agy >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo available || echo missing)"
printf "grok:%s\n" "$(command -v grok >/dev/null 2>&1 && { [ -n "${XAI_API_KEY:-}" ] || [ -f "${HOME}/.grok/auth.json" ]; } && echo available || echo missing)"
echo "PROVIDER_CHECK_END"

Then render the provider banner from actual provider checks. Do not hand-write or summarize this banner; run this block and display its output exactly. The output MUST include the Antigravity line even when `agy` is missing.

status_cli() { command -v "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 && echo "Available ✓" || echo "Not installed ✗"; }
status_env() { [[ -n "${1:-}" ]] && echo "Configured ✓" || echo "Not configured ✗"; }
codex_status="$(status_cli codex)"
agy_status="$(status_cli agy)"
if command -v grok >/dev/null 2>&1 && { [ -n "${XAI_API_KEY:-}" ] || [ -f "${HOME}/.grok/auth.json" ]; }; then grok_status="Available ✓"; else grok_status="Not installed ✗"; fi
opencode_status="$(status_cli opencode)"
copilot_status="$(status_cli copilot)"
qwen_status="$(status_cli qwen)"
if command -v ollama >/dev/null 2>&1 && curl -sf http://localhost:11434/api/tags >/dev/null 2>&1; then ollama_status="Available ✓"; else ollama_status="Not installed ✗"; fi
perplexity_status="$(status_env "${PERPLEXITY_API_KEY:-}")"
cat <<BANNER
🐙 **CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED** — Multi-AI Brainstorm
🔍 Brainstorm: [Topic being explored]

Providers:
🔴 Codex CLI: ${codex_status}
🧭 Antigravity CLI: ${agy_status}
🤖 Grok CLI (xAI): ${grok_status}
🟤 OpenCode: ${opencode_status}
🟢 Copilot CLI: ${copilot_status}
🟠 Qwen CLI: ${qwen_status}
⚫ Ollama: ${ollama_status}
🔵 Claude: Available ✓ — Synthesis, pattern naming, and moderation
🟣 Perplexity: ${perplexity_status}
BANNER

The rendered banner must look like this shape, with ACTUAL statuses:

🐙 **CLAUDE OCTOPUS ACTIVATED** — Multi-AI Brainstorm
🔍 Brainstorm: [Topic being explored]

Providers:
🔴 Codex CLI: [Available ✓ / Not installed ✗]
🧭 Antigravity CLI: [Available ✓ / Not installed ✗]
🤖 Grok CLI (xAI): [Available ✓ / Not installed ✗]
🟤 OpenCode: [Available ✓ / Not installed ✗]
🟢 Copilot CLI: [Available ✓ / Not installed ✗]
🟠 Qwen CLI: [Available ✓ / Not installed ✗]
⚫ Ollama: [Available ✓ / Not installed ✗]
🔵 Claude: Available ✓ — Synthesis, pattern naming, and moderation
🟣 Perplexity: [Configured ✓ / Not configured ✗]

**PROHIBITED: Displaying only "🔵 Claude: Available ✓" without listing all providers.** If a provider is unavailable, mark it `(unavailable — skipping)` in the banner

Step 2b: Frame the Topic

Ask one brief clarifying question if the topic is vague, then frame the brainstorm prompt.

Step 2c: Dispatch Parallel Brainstorm Queries (MANDATORY)

**You MUST dispatch to at least 2 providers.** Do NOT brainstorm solo and call it Team mode.

Launch external providers in parallel through Octopus routing:

TOPIC="[TOPIC]"
ORCH="${HOME}/.claude-octopus/plugin/scripts/orchestrate.sh"
[[ -x "$ORCH" ]] || { echo "Octopus orchestrator not found: $ORCH"; exit 1; }
ORCH_HELP="$("$ORCH" 2>&1 || true)"
printf '%s\n' "$ORCH_HELP" | grep -c 'spawn <agent>' >/dev/null || { echo "Octopus orchestrator does not expose spawn"; exit 1; }

RUN_DIR="$(mktemp -d "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/octopus-brainstorm.XXXXXX")"
trap 'rm -rf "$RUN_DIR"' EXIT
CONSULTATIVE_LIB="${HOME}/.claude-octopus/plugin/scripts/lib/consultative-advisors.sh"