brainstorm

Brainstorming Protocol

You are helping the user brainstorm solutions for: $ARGUMENTS

⚠️ AskUserQuestion Guard

CRITICAL: After EVERY AskUserQuestion call, check if answers are empty/blank. Known Claude Code bug: outside Plan Mode, AskUserQuestion silently returns empty answers without showing UI.

If answers are empty: DO NOT proceed with assumptions. Instead:

1. Output: "⚠️ Questions didn't display (known Claude Code bug outside Plan Mode)."
2. Present the options as a numbered text list and ask user to reply with their choice number.
3. WAIT for user reply before continuing.

Phase 1: Research First 🔍

ALWAYS start by researching to avoid reinventing the wheel:

1. Generate 2-3 focused web searches (existing solutions, best practices, real-world examples)
2. Synthesize findings into key insights
3. Note what already exists vs. what's missing

Phase 2: Divergent Thinking 💡

Generate 5-10 distinct options using SCAMPER + Starbursting:

#	Approach	Core Idea	Complexity	Novel Aspects

Phase 3: Convergent Thinking 🎯

Auto-select method based on problem type:

• Technical/architectural: Weighted Scoring
• Product/feature: Six Thinking Hats
• Tooling/workflow: Constraint-Based filtering

Identify top 2-3 finalists with trade-offs.

Phase 4: Recommendation ✅

1. Recommend best option with reasoning
2. Flag assumptions to validate
3. Auto-detect boulder vs. pebble → suggest OpenSpec or direct implementation

Phase 5: Persist Thinking Artifact ⚠️ MANDATORY

MUST execute before finishing. DO NOT skip. DO NOT wait for user to ask.

Write brainstorm to $THINKING_DIR/brainstorms/{project}/{date}-{slug}-llm.md.

{project} = current project folder name (e.g., agent-skills, gtd-pcm). {slug} = lowercase hyphenated from brainstorm topic. Create directory if missing.

Collision handling: If filename exists, append sequence: {date}-{slug}-2-llm.md, {date}-{slug}-3-llm.md. First write gets clean name.

Guard: If $THINKING_DIR is unset, warn user and skip artifact persistence: ⚠️ $THINKING_DIR not set — artifact not persisted. Set via: export THINKING_DIR="$HOME/dev/praxis/thinking"

Content: problem/topic + research findings + options generated (SCAMPER) + convergence analysis + recommendation + assumptions to validate.

See reference.md for SCAMPER details, Starbursting dimensions, and convergence frameworks.

✅ Completion Checklist

Before responding to user, verify:

• Artifact written to $THINKING_DIR (or guard triggered if unset)