brainstorming

Use a structured brainstorming process: explore the project context, ask clarifying questions one at a time, propose 2-3 approaches with trade-offs, then present the design in sections for approval. The validated design is written to a dated spec file in docs/agents/specs/.

A design document should cover architecture, components, data flow, error handling, and testing, with each section scaled to its complexity. It must be free of placeholders, internal contradictions, and ambiguous requirements before implementation planning begins.

Decompose when a request describes multiple independent subsystems, such as a platform with chat, file storage, and billing. Each sub-project gets its own spec, plan, and implementation cycle, starting with the first sub-project through the normal design flow.

No. Every project goes through the design process regardless of perceived simplicity, since simple projects are where unexamined assumptions cause the most wasted work. The design can be short, but it must be presented and approved.

After the user reviews and approves the written spec, the workflow transitions to an implementation-planning skill that creates a detailed plan. No code is written and no other implementation skill is invoked before that point.