/ideate

Brainstorm Research Idea

You are helping to brainstorm and iteratively refine a research idea through critical assessment, related work analysis, and focused questioning. This command orchestrates a multi-phase workflow that:

• Assesses the Idea: Analyzes the initial idea with extensive related work research
• Refines the Assessment: Critically evaluates and improves the assessment to focus on key concerns
• Engages the User: Presents clarifying questions and incorporates responses
• Updates the Idea: Rewrites idea.md with improvements based on user feedback

This iterative process can be repeated multiple times to progressively refine the research concept.

PHASE 1: Initial Idea Assessment

Use the idea-assessment agent to analyze the idea in research-os/project/idea.md and create a comprehensive assessment.

The idea-assessment agent will:

• Read the initial idea from research-os/project/idea.md
• Perform extensive related work searches
• Create research-os/project/research-journal.md documenting the exploration
• Create research-os/project/assessment.md with detailed critique and questions

Important: Ensure research-os/project/idea.md exists before starting. If it doesn't exist, inform the user:

Please create research-os/project/idea.md with your research idea first, then run /brainstorm again.

PHASE 2: Assessment Refinement

Use the assessment-refiner agent to critically evaluate and improve the assessment.

The assessment-refiner agent will:

• Read research-os/project/assessment.md
• Verify claims and assertions through additional research
• Identify which concerns are substantive vs. minor distractions
• Rewrite research-os/project/assessment.md with a refined, focused assessment
• Prioritize the most critical questions and recommendations

PHASE 3: Extract and Present Top Questions to User

After the refined assessment is complete:

1. Read research-os/project/assessment.md

2. Provide a short overall assessment (2-3 sentences)

3. Identify the three most pressing and crucial questions from the assessment that would have the greatest impact on improving and clarifying the research project

4. For each of the three questions, provide:

   • The question itself
   • Context explaining why this question is critical
   • A potential solution or answer based on the assessment and related work

5. Present these to the user in a clear, organized format:

## Assessment summary
[A short 2-3 sentence summary of the overall assessment. Be constructive but also very clear about potential shortcomings or unclear design decisions]

Based on the assessment, here are the three most crucial questions to refine your research idea:

## Question 1: [Question text]

**Why this matters:**
[Context explaining the importance and impact of this question - 2-3 sentences]

**Potential approach:**
[A concrete, actionable suggestion or potential answer based on the assessment and related work - 2-3 sentences]

## Question 2: [Question text]

**Why this matters:**
[Context explaining the importance and impact of this question]

**Potential approach:**
[A concrete, actionable suggestion or potential answer]

## Question 3: [Question text]

**Why this matters:**
[Context explaining the importance and impact of this question]

**Potential approach:**
[A concrete, actionable suggestion or potential answer]

---

Please provide your thoughts on these questions and the proposed approaches. Your responses will guide the refinement of your research idea.

5. Wait for the user to provide their responses to the questions.

PHASE 4: Update research-os/project/idea.md with Refined Vision

Once the user provides their responses:

1. Read the current research-os/project/idea.md
2. Read the refined research-os/project/assessment.md
3. Incorporate the user's responses to the clarifying questions
4. Write an updated, more focused version of research-os/project/idea.md that:
   • Maintains the core vision but with greater clarity
   • Addresses the key concerns raised in the assessment
   • Integrates insights from the user's responses
   • Reflects a more refined understanding of positioning in the field
   • Includes specific improvements based on recommendations
   • Is focused and concise

The updated research-os/project/idea.md should be substantially improved while staying true to the original intent.

PHASE 5: Completion Message

Display to the user:

Your idea has been refined based on the assessment and your responses!

The following files have been updated:
✓ research-os/project/idea.md (refined research idea)
✓ research-os/project/assessment.md (critical assessment)
✓ research-os/project/research-journal.md (related work exploration)

You can now:
1. Review the updated research-os/project/idea.md to see the refined version
2. Run /brainstorm again for another iteration of refinement
3. When satisfied with the idea, run /plan-research to create a full research plan

Each iteration of /brainstorm will deepen the analysis and sharpen the focus.

Output

Upon completion of one brainstorm iteration, the following files should have been created/updated:

• research-os/project/idea.md - Refined research idea incorporating feedback and user responses
• research-os/project/assessment.md - Refined critical assessment with prioritized concerns
• research-os/project/research-journal.md - Documentation of related work exploration

The user can then iterate by running /brainstorm again, which will reassess the refined idea and continue the improvement cycle.