/brainstorm

description: "Design exploration using parallel agents through a 7-phase process: topic analysis, memory context, divergent ideation (10+ ideas), feasibility filtering, evaluation with devil's advocate scoring (0-10 across 7 dimensions), synthesis of top approaches, and trade-off comparison. Supports open exploration, constrained design, comparison, quick ideation, and iterative optimization modes. Use when brainstorming ideas, exploring solutions, or comparing alternatives."
argument-hint: "[topic-or-idea]"
disable-model-invocation: false  # #3194: true also blocked USER-typed mid-turn invocations
model: sonnet
context: fork
user-invocable: true
name: brainstorm
background: false
allowed-tools: [AskUserQuestion, Agent, Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, TaskCreate, TaskUpdate, TaskList, TaskStop, ToolSearch, ExitWorktree, PushNotification, mcp__memory__search_nodes]

Auto-generated from skills/brainstorm/SKILL.md

Source: https://github.com/yonatangross/orchestkit

Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs

Transform rough ideas into fully-formed designs through intelligent agent selection and structured exploration.

**Core principle:** Analyze the topic, select relevant agents dynamically, explore alternatives in parallel, present design incrementally.

Argument Resolution

TOPIC = "$ARGUMENTS"  # Full argument string, e.g., "API design for payments"
# $ARGUMENTS[0] is the first token (CC 2.1.59 indexed access)

STEP -1: MCP Probe + Resume Check

Probe MCP servers once at skill start, store capabilities, and resume from any prior crashed session. Each phase emits a JSON handoff file consumed by the next.

Full procedure + handoff-file table: `Read("${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/brainstorm/references/mcp-probe-resume.md")`

STEP 0: Project Context Discovery

**BEFORE creating tasks or selecting agents**, detect the project tier. This becomes the **complexity ceiling** for all downstream decisions.

Auto-Detection (scan codebase)

# PARALLEL — quick signals (launch all in ONE message)
Grep(pattern="take-home|assignment|interview|hackathon", glob="README*", output_mode="content")
Grep(pattern="take-home|assignment|interview|hackathon", glob="*.md", output_mode="content")
Glob(pattern=".github/workflows/*")
Glob(pattern="**/Dockerfile")
Glob(pattern="**/terraform/**")
Glob(pattern="**/k8s/**")
Glob(pattern="CONTRIBUTING.md")

Tier Classification

| Signal | Tier | |--------|------| | README says "take-home", "assignment", time limit | **1. Interview** | | < 10 files, no CI, no Docker | **2. Hackathon** | | `.github/workflows/`, 10-25 deps | **3. MVP** | | Module boundaries, Redis, background jobs | **4. Growth** | | K8s/Terraform, DDD structure, monorepo | **5. Enterprise** | | CONTRIBUTING.md, LICENSE, minimal deps | **6. Open Source** |

**If confidence is low**, ask the user:

AskUserQuestion(questions=[{
  "question": "What kind of project is this?",
  "header": "Project tier",
  "options": [
    {"label": "Interview / take-home", "description": "8-15 files, 200-600 LOC, simple architecture"},
    {"label": "Startup / MVP", "description": "MVC monolith, managed services, ship fast"},
    {"label": "Growth / enterprise", "description": "Modular monolith or DDD, full observability"},
    {"label": "Open source library", "description": "Minimal API surface, exhaustive tests"}
  ],
  "multiSelect": false
}])

**Pass the detected tier as context to ALL downstream agents and phases.** The tier constrains which patterns are appropriate — see `scope-appropriate-architecture` skill for the full matrix.

> **Override:** User can always override the detected tier. Warn them of trade-offs if they choose a higher tier than detected.

STEP 0a: Verify User Intent with AskUserQuestion

**Clarify brainstorming constraints:**

# NOTE: AskUserQuestion caps each question at 4 options (CC schema: minItems 2,
# maxItems 4). Use plain `label` + `description` only — the schema permits a
# `preview` field, but on current CC it forces a side-by-side picker layout with
# dead up/down keyboard nav (confirmed 2026-05-28), so skills no longer use it
# (`markdown` was never valid). The 6 legacy
# modes are split across 3 valid questions: Q1 = exploration flow, Q2 folds the
# old "Constrained design" mode into constraints, Q3 carries the orthogonal
# "Plan first" preamble (it composes with any Q1 mode — it was never mutually
# exclusive). "Quick ideation" + STEP 0c /effort=low overlap; both downscale.
AskUserQuestion(
  questions=[
    {
      "question": "What type of design exploration?",
      "header": "Mode",
      "options": [
        {"label": "Open exploration (Recommended)", "description": "Generate 10+ ideas, evaluate all, synthesize top 3"},
        {"label": "Comparison", "description": "Compare 2-3 specific approaches I have in mind"},
        {"label": "Quick ideation", "description": "Generate ideas fast, skip deep evaluation"},
        {"label": "Iterative optimization", "description": "Try, measure, keep/discard, repeat (autoresearch-style)"}
      ],
      "multiSelect": false
    },
    {
      "question": "Any preferences or constraints?",
      "header": "Constraints",
      "options": [
        {"label": "None", "description": "Explore all possibilities"},
        {"label": "Use existing patterns", "description": "Prefer patterns already in codebase"},
        {"label": "Minimize complexity", "description": "Favor simpler solutions"},
        {"label": "Fixed requirements (constrained)", "description": "Hard requirements to work within — skip divergent phase, focus on feasibility (old 'Constrained design' mode)"}
      ],
      "multiSelect": false
    },
    {
      "question": "Research before ideating?",
      "header": "Plan-first",
      "options": [
        {"label": "No — dive straight in (Recommended)", "description": "Go directly to ideation"},
        {"label": "Yes — plan first", "description": "Read-only research (E