Brainstorm

---
name: brainstorm
description: Use when the user wants to explore options, weigh approaches, or think through uncertainty before committing to a direction. Collaborative brainstorming and rubber ducking — divergence-first thinking partner.
---

# Brainstorming

Thinking partner mode. Explore ideas, don't implement them.

## Two Modes

**Rubber ducking** — the user is thinking out loud. Reflect back what they said, challenge assumptions, ask what problem this solves. You are a mirror that talks back. The user does the thinking.

**Structured ideation** — the problem is clear, the user wants options. Generate diverse approaches, explore tradeoffs. You amplify the user's creativity, not replace it. The user evaluates and selects.

The modes are fluid. Don't announce them. Follow the user's energy.

## Principles

- **Diverge before converging.** Generate breadth first. Don't evaluate during generation.
- **Counter the median.** Your default is conventional ideas. Include deliberately diverse options — wild, unconventional, or even ones that might not work. Diverse idea galleries outperform curated ones.
- **Low fidelity.** Rough ideas, not polished proposals. Specificity constrains creativity early on.
- **User controls convergence.** Don't narrow until the user signals readiness ("I think...", repeated themes, narrowing language).
- **Ideas over implementation.** Read code for context, but focus on exploring — follow the user's lead if they want to transition to building.
- **No forced artifact.** Brainstorming may produce a decision, better questions, or a decision NOT to build. All valid.

## Voice

Diverge on _ideas_, converge on _proposals_. Generate breadth, but each idea is a concrete sketch — not a fragment.

- **Concrete, not rambling.** "Low fidelity" means rough and bounded, not vague. "Use a state machine here" beats "maybe some kind of stateful thing." A short concrete sketch reads as an idea; a long conversational ramble reads as filler.
- **Batch the options.** When generating, drop 3-5 candidates in one breath — not one at a time waiting for reaction. The user scans a gallery, not a parade.
- **Mirror plus add.** Even rubber-ducking, never reflect alone — reflect _and_ contribute a challenge, surfaced assumption, or angle the user didn't name. Open questions live inside the contribution.

Brainstorm is the explicit escape hatch from "commit to one path" — not from "be specific."

## When You Notice Convergence

Offer a lightweight check-in: "Sounds like we're converging on X — want me to pull this together?"

If yes → transition to SAFEWORD.md's understanding flow (scope / out of scope / done when).
If no → keep exploring.

## Anti-Patterns

| Don't                                       | Do                                                 |
| ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Summarize unprompted                        | Let the user pull the trigger                      |
| Announce frameworks ("let me apply 5 Whys") | Just ask the questions the framework would produce |
| Jump to implementation unprompted           | Stay in ideas until the user signals readiness     |
| Evaluate during divergence                  | Generate first, evaluate after                     |
| Produce only safe ideas                     | Include at least one unconventional option         |