brainstorm

/brainstorm — Idea Exploration

Usage

/brainstorm <feature-name>

Pipeline Stage: 1 of 7

Process

Phase 1: Intent Discovery

Ask the user 3-5 Socratic questions to understand the core intent:

• What problem does this solve?
• Who benefits and how?
• What does success look like?
• What constraints exist?
• What have you already considered?

Use AskUserQuestion tool for this — present focused questions with concrete options where possible.

Phase 2: Context Collection

Spawn an explorer agent to scan the codebase:

• Identify related existing code
• Find similar patterns already in use
• Map relevant dependencies
• Note architectural constraints

Phase 3: Risk Analysis

Spawn a critic agent to challenge the idea:

• Surface hidden assumptions
• Identify technical risks
• Point out scope concerns
• Suggest edge cases

Phase 4: External Research (if needed)

Spawn a researcher agent if the idea involves:

• Unfamiliar technology
• External APIs or services
• Industry best practices needed

Phase 5: Multi-Model Debate

Gather diverse perspectives on the idea using 3 models in parallel. Reuses call-model.sh (call_codex / call_gemini) and synthesize-reviews.sh patterns.

Claude (critic results): Reuse the risk analysis from Phase 3 as Claude's perspective.

Codex (call_codex): Implementation-focused prompt —

"Given this idea: {Problem + Solution summary}. Evaluate: (1) implementation complexity, (2) technical feasibility, (3) alternative approaches. Be specific and concise."

Gemini (call_gemini): Broad-perspective prompt —

"Given this idea: {Problem + Solution summary}. Provide: (1) similar solutions in other ecosystems, (2) perspectives or angles not yet considered, (3) potential blind spots. Be specific and concise."

Synthesis: Combine the 3 perspectives using synthesize-reviews.sh → save to .dev/specs/{feature-name}/debate.md

Consensus detection: Automatically determined by synthesize-reviews.sh:

• 3-model — all three models contributed
• 2-model — two models contributed
• claude-only — only Claude (Codex/Gemini unavailable)

Graceful degradation: If Codex or Gemini CLI is unavailable, proceed with available models. If only Claude is available, skip debate file and carry Phase 3 results directly into Synthesis.

Phase 6: Synthesis

Combine all inputs into .dev/specs/{feature-name}/idea.md:

---
title: {Feature Name}
date: {YYYY-MM-DD}
status: brainstorm
---

## Problem
{What problem this solves, for whom}

## Solution
{Proposed approach, key ideas}

## Context
{Relevant existing code, patterns, constraints discovered by explorer}

## Risks
{Risks and concerns identified by critic}

## Debate Summary
{3-model debate synthesis. Points of agreement, disagreement, and key insights}
- **Consensus**: {what models agreed on}
- **Divergent**: {where models disagreed}
- **Key Insight**: {most valuable finding from debate}

## References
{External resources found by researcher, if any}

## Open Questions
{Unresolved questions for specify phase}

If debate was claude-only (no debate.md), write "Single-model analysis (Codex/Gemini unavailable)" in Debate Summary and summarize key points from the critic analysis.

Phase 7: Clarify

After idea.md is written, perform a final review before handing off to /specify:

1. Open Questions check — Are the Open Questions specific enough to be actionable in the specify phase?
2. Problem ↔ Solution coherence — Does the Solution logically address the Problem? Any gaps?
3. Debate resolution — Were Divergent points from the Debate Summary addressed or acknowledged?
4. User confirmation — Use AskUserQuestion to ask:
   • "This brainstorm is ready for /specify. How would you like to proceed?"
   • Options: "Proceed to /specify" / "Revise Solution" / "Redefine Problem" / (Other)
5. If the user requests revisions, update the relevant section(s) in idea.md and re-confirm.
6. Once confirmed, update idea.md frontmatter status: brainstorm → status: clarified.

Rules

• Do NOT write any code or implementation files
• Only write to .dev/specs/{feature-name}/
• Focus on understanding, not solving
• It's OK to have open questions — that's what /specify is for
• Debate phase uses Bash to invoke call-model.sh / synthesize-reviews.sh — this is the only permitted Bash usage