Brainstorm by athola

Transform vague project ideas into structured briefs with validated approaches through multi-phase exploration.

When To Use

Use this command when you need to:

• Start a new project without clear requirements
• Explore and compare multiple technical approaches
• Validate project feasibility before committing resources
• Document decision rationale for stakeholders
• Clarify the core problem being solved

When NOT To Use

Avoid this command if:

• Requirements and specification already exist (use /attune:blueprint instead)
• You need to refine existing specs (use /attune:specify instead)
• Project scope is well-defined (jump to /attune:project-init)
• Making mid-project strategic decisions (use /attune:war-room instead)

Usage

# Start interactive brainstorming session
/attune:brainstorm

# Brainstorm with specific domain
/attune:brainstorm --domain "web application"

# Resume previous brainstorm
/attune:brainstorm --resume

What This Command Does

1. Invokes brainstorming skill with superpowers integration
2. Guides ideation through Socratic questioning
3. Explores constraints and requirements
4. Documents outcomes in structured format
5. Generates project brief for planning phase

Integration with Superpowers

When superpowers plugin is available:

• Uses Skill(superpowers:brainstorming) for Socratic method
• Uses structured ideation frameworks
• Applies constraint-based thinking

Without superpowers:

• Falls back to attune's native brainstorming skill
• Provides similar guided questioning
• Documents ideas systematically

Workflow

# 1. Invoke brainstorming skill
Skill(attune:project-brainstorming)

# 2. Guide through phases:
#    - Problem definition
#    - Constraint identification
#    - Solution exploration
#    - Approach comparison
#    - Decision documentation

# 3. Generate project brief
#    - Saved to docs/project-brief.md
#    - Includes problem, goals, constraints, approach

# 4. Workflow auto-continues (see below)

Workflow Continuation Protocol (MANDATORY)

After brainstorming completes successfully, auto-proceed to the next phase unless --standalone was specified:

1. Verify artifact: Confirm docs/project-brief.md exists and is non-empty
2. Checkpoint message: Display brief summary to user:

   Brainstorming complete. Project brief saved to docs/project-brief.md.
   Proceeding to specification phase...

1. Auto-invoke next phase:

   Skill(attune:project-specification)

Bypass Conditions (skip auto-continuation if ANY true):

• --standalone flag was provided
• docs/project-brief.md does not exist or is empty
• User explicitly requests to stop after brainstorming

Brainstorming Phases

Phase 1: Problem Definition

Questions:

• What problem are we solving?
• Who experiences this problem?
• What is the current solution (if any)?
• What are the pain points?

Output: Problem statement document

Phase 2: Constraint Identification

Questions:

• What are the technical constraints?
• What are the resource constraints (time, budget, team)?
• What are the regulatory/compliance requirements?
• What are the integration requirements?

Output: Constraints matrix

Phase 3: Solution Exploration

Techniques:

• Multiple approach generation (3-5 approaches)
• Trade-off analysis for each approach
• Pros/cons documentation
• Risk assessment

Output: Approach comparison table

Phase 4: Approach Selection

Criteria:

• Alignment with constraints
• Technical feasibility
• Resource efficiency
• Risk vs. reward
• Time to value

Output: Selected approach with rationale

Phase 5: Brief Generation

Sections:

• Problem statement
• Goals and success criteria
• Constraints
• Selected approach
• Trade-offs and decisions
• Next steps

Output: docs/project-brief.md

Arguments

• --domain - Project domain (web, cli, library, etc.)
• --resume - Resume previous brainstorm session
• --output - Custom output path for brief (default: docs/project-brief.md)
• --skip-superpowers - Don't use superpowers integration
• --standalone - Run only this phase; do not auto-proceed to specification

Examples

Example 1: Web Application Brainstorm

/attune:brainstorm --domain "web application"

Session Flow:

🧠 Brainstorming: Web Application Project

Problem Definition:
→ What specific problem does this web app solve?
  [User input: "Help developers track technical debt"]

→ Who are the primary users?
  [User input: "Development teams, tech leads"]

→ What do they currently use?
  [User input: "Spreadsheets, GitHub issues, nothing systematic"]

Constraints:
→ Must integrate with existing tools (GitHub, Jira)?
  [User input: "Yes, GitHub primarily"]

→ Team size and timeline?
  [User input: "2 developers, 3 months MVP"]
…