Brainstorming
- 9 installs
- 4 repo stars
- Updated April 11, 2026
- 89jobrien/steve
brainstorming is a Claude Code skill (now deprecated) that turns ideas into fully formed designs and specs through collaborative one-question-at-a-time dialogue before implementation.
About
brainstorming is a Claude Code skill (marked DEPRECATED) that turns ideas into designs and specs through a collaborative question-and-answer dialogue. It checks project context, asks one question at a time, proposes 2-3 approaches with trade-offs, and presents the design in small validated sections. A developer uses it before creating features or building components to scope requirements and design. It writes the validated design to a dated plan document.
- Turns ideas into fully formed designs and specs through collaborative dialogue
- Asks one question at a time and presents the design in 200-300 word sections
- DEPRECATED as of 2026-01-20
Brainstorming by the numbers
- 9 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- Ranked #2,222 of 3,282 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Data as of Jul 28, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
brainstorming capabilities & compatibility
- Capabilities
- design scoping · requirements gathering · spec writing
- Use cases
- planning · documentation
- Pricing
- Free
What brainstorming says it does
Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.
status: DEPRECATED
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| Installs | 9 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 4 |
| Last updated | April 11, 2026 |
| Repository | 89jobrien/steve ↗ |
What it does
Scope an idea into a validated design spec through one-question-at-a-time dialogue before implementation.
Who is it for?
Scoping an idea into a validated design and spec before writing code
Skip if: Use is discouraged; the skill is marked deprecated as of 2026-01-20
When should I use this skill?
Before any creative work - creating features, building components, or modifying behavior - to explore intent and design
What you get
A validated design document written to docs/plans and committed to git.
- validated design document (docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-topic-design.md)
By the numbers
- design presented in 200-300 word sections
- proposes 2-3 approaches per decision
Files
Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs
Overview
Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.
Start by understanding the current project context, then ask questions one at a time to refine the idea. Once you understand what you're building, present the design in small sections (200-300 words), checking after each section whether it looks right so far.
The Process
Understanding the idea:
- Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits)
- Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea
- Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too
- Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions
- Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria
Exploring approaches:
- Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs
- Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning
- Lead with your recommended option and explain why
Presenting the design:
- Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design
- Break it into sections of 200-300 words
- Ask after each section whether it looks right so far
- Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing
- Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense
After the Design
Documentation:
- Write the validated design to
docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md - Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available
- Commit the design document to git
Implementation (if continuing):
- Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?"
- Use superpowers:using-git-worktrees to create isolated workspace
- Use superpowers:writing-plans to create detailed implementation plan
Key Principles
- One question at a time - Don't overwhelm with multiple questions
- Multiple choice preferred - Easier to answer than open-ended when possible
- YAGNI ruthlessly - Remove unnecessary features from all designs
- Explore alternatives - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
- Incremental validation - Present design in sections, validate each
- Be flexible - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense
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Is this skill still supported?
No; its frontmatter marks it DEPRECATED as of 2026-01-20.
How does it structure the dialogue?
It asks one question at a time, prefers multiple choice, proposes 2-3 approaches, and presents the design in 200-300 word sections, validating each.