brainstorming-workflow

Brainstorming Workflow — Teammate-Driven Development Lifecycle

Orchestrate the full development lifecycle for complex features using 5 persistent teammates, each with a distinct role. One /brainstorming command covers discovery through PR.

Why Teammates Over Subagents

• Persistent context — teammates accumulate understanding across phases, no context lost
• Named coordination — address teammates by name via SendMessage, clear responsibility
• Shared task list — all teammates see progress, dependencies, blockers
• Single entry point — one command replaces 4 manual invocations

Teammate Roster

Name	Role	Model	Phases
scout	Codebase Explorer	sonnet	1-Discovery
architect	System Designer	opus	2-Design
builder	Implementation Lead	inherit	4-Execution
reviewer	Quality Gatekeeper (3 modes)	inherit	3-Planning, 4-Execution, 5-Review
closer	PR & Integration	inherit	6-PR

6-Phase Flow

Phase 1: Discovery    → scout explores codebase (3 passes)
  ║ GATE 1: Clarifying Questions (mandatory)
Phase 2: Design       → architect designs 2-3 approaches
  ║ GATE 2: Architecture Choice (mandatory)
Phase 3: Planning     → orchestrator writes TDD plan, reviewer validates spec
  ║ GATE 3: Plan Approval (soft, --auto-plan skips)
Phase 4: Execution    → builder implements via TDD, reviewer checks each task
Phase 5: Deep Review  → reviewer applies 5 lenses (tests, errors, types, comments, simplify)
  ║ GATE 4: Fix/Proceed (conditional — only if critical/important found)
Phase 6: PR & Close   → closer verifies, creates PR, runs automated review

Progressive Engagement

Stop at any gate:

• After Phase 1: "I just needed the exploration"
• After Phase 2: "I have the architecture, I'll implement myself"
• After Phase 3: "I have the plan, I'll use /subagent-driven-development"
• After Phase 5: "Skip PR, I'll handle that"

Gates

See references/gate-protocols.md for detailed interaction patterns:

• Gate 1 (mandatory): present scout findings + clarifying questions, wait for answers
• Gate 2 (mandatory): present architect's approaches + recommendation, wait for choice
• Gate 3 (soft): present plan summary, approve to proceed (--auto-plan skips)
• Gate 4 (conditional): only pauses if critical/important issues found

Deep Review Lenses

See references/review-lenses.md for the 5 specialized protocols:

1. Test Coverage — behavioral coverage, critical gaps
2. Silent Failures — empty catches, swallowed errors
3. Type Design — invariant strength, encapsulation
4. Comment Accuracy — factual accuracy, rot
5. Code Simplification — clarity, maintainability

Phase Orchestration

See references/phase-orchestration.md for:

• Message templates for each teammate per phase
• Task creation templates
• Transition criteria between phases
• Teammate lifecycle management (spawn/shutdown timing)

Integration

Requires: forge-superpowers (provides writing-plans, TDD, verification, finishing, worktrees)

Superpowers skills used:

• superpowers:writing-plans — Phase 3 plan generation
• superpowers:using-git-worktrees — Phase 4 workspace isolation
• superpowers:test-driven-development — builder follows TDD protocol
• superpowers:verification-before-completion — Phase 6 pre-PR verification
• superpowers:finishing-a-development-branch — Phase 6 integration options

Complements: forge-extended-dev — user can choose between /brainstorming (persistent teammates that accumulate context across phases) or /feature-dev + manual phases (ephemeral subagents, fresh context each dispatch)

Command

/brainstorming [feature description] [--auto-plan] [--skip-pr] [--comment]

• --auto-plan: skip Gate 3 (auto-approve plan)
• --skip-pr: stop after deep review, skip PR phase
• --comment: post inline GitHub comments during PR review (requires gh CLI)