shipyard-brainstorming
You MUST use this before any creative work — creating features, building components, adding functionality, or modifying behavior. Explores user intent, requirements, and design through Socratic dialogue before implementation. Also use when the user says "I want to add", "let's design", "what if we", "I have an idea", or when a design discussion is happening. Invoked by /shipyard:brainstorm for requirements gathering.
What this skill does
<!-- TOKEN BUDGET: 130 lines / ~390 tokens --> # Brainstorming Ideas Into Designs <activation> ## When to Use - User wants to build, create, or add something new - User says "let's build", "I want to add", "what if we..." - Design discussion or feature exploration is happening - During `/shipyard:brainstorm` for requirements gathering - Before any creative work: creating features, building components, adding functionality, modifying behavior ## Natural Language Triggers - "I want to add", "let's design", "brainstorm", "what if we", "I have an idea", "let's think about" </activation> ## Overview Help turn ideas into fully formed designs through natural collaborative dialogue. Understand the project context, ask questions one at a time, then present the design in small sections (200-300 words) with validation after each. **Shipyard integration:** This skill is invoked by the `/shipyard:brainstorm` command for project requirements gathering. It can also be used standalone for any creative exploration or design work. <instructions> ## The Process ### Phase 1: Understanding the Idea - Check out the current project state first (files, docs, recent commits) - Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea - Prefer multiple choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too - Only one question per message - if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions - Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria **Multiple-choice question template:** ``` I see a few ways to handle [topic]: A) [Option] -- [one-sentence trade-off] B) [Option] -- [one-sentence trade-off] C) [Option] -- [one-sentence trade-off] I'd lean toward (A) because [reason]. Which feels right for your case? ``` ### Phase 2: Exploring Approaches - Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs - Present options conversationally with your recommendation and reasoning - Lead with your recommended option and explain why ### Phase 3: Presenting the Design - Once you believe you understand what you're building, present the design - Break it into sections of 200-300 words - Ask after each section whether it looks right so far - Cover: architecture, components, data flow, error handling, testing - Be ready to go back and clarify if something doesn't make sense </instructions> ## After the Design **When invoked by `/shipyard:brainstorm` command:** - The command handles writing to `.shipyard/PROJECT.md` and committing — do not write the design document yourself. **When invoked standalone (not via the brainstorm command):** - Write the validated design to `docs/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md` - Use elements-of-style:writing-clearly-and-concisely skill if available (an external skill, not included with Shipyard) - Commit the design document to git **Implementation (if continuing):** - Ask: "Ready to set up for implementation?" - Use shipyard:git-workflow to create isolated workspace - Use shipyard:shipyard-writing-plans to create detailed implementation plan <rules> ## Key Principles - **One question at a time** - Don't overwhelm with multiple questions - **Multiple choice preferred** - Easier to answer than open-ended when possible - **YAGNI ruthlessly** - Cut any feature not essential to the core use case. If the user says "and maybe also...", push back: "Let's ship the core first and add that later if needed." - **Explore alternatives** - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling - **Incremental validation** - Present design in sections, validate each - **Be flexible** - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense - **No gold plating** - If the user describes a simple need, do not propose an enterprise architecture. Match the solution to the problem size. </rules> <examples> ## Examples ### Good: Collaborative single-question flow ``` User: I want to add notifications to my app. Agent: Before we dive in, let me check what's here... [reads project files] Your app is a Flask REST API with a PostgreSQL database and no existing notification system. What kind of notifications are we talking about? A) Email notifications for important events (password reset, account changes) B) In-app notifications (a notification bell in the UI) C) Push notifications to mobile devices D) Some combination -- tell me more I'd lean toward (A) if this is your first pass, since it's the simplest to add. Which direction? ``` ### Bad: Dumping multiple questions at once ``` User: I want to add notifications to my app. Agent: Great idea! What kind of notifications? Email, push, or in-app? What events should trigger them? Do you need real-time delivery? What about notification preferences? Should users be able to mute? What about digest mode? Have you considered a message queue? What scale are we talking about? ``` </examples>
Related in Design
contribute
IncludedLocal-only OSS contribution command center. Auto-refreshes the user's in-flight PR and issue state on invoke so conversations start with full context — no need to brief Claude on what's in flight. Helps the user find issues to contribute to on GitHub, builds per-repo dossiers of what each upstream expects (CLA, DCO, branch convention, AI policy, draft-first, review bots, issue templates), runs deterministic gates before any external action so AI-assisted contributions don't reach maintainers as slop. State is markdown-only: candidate files at ~/.contribute-system/candidates/, repo dossiers at ~/.contribute-system/research/, append-only event log at ~/.contribute-system/log.jsonl. No database, no cloud calls. Use when the user asks about their PRs / issues / contributions, wants to find new work to take on, claim an issue, build/refresh a repo's dossier, or draft a Design Issue or PR. Trigger with "/contribute", "what's my PR status", "find a contribution", "claim issue X", "draft a Design Issue for Y", "refresh dossier for Z".
architectural-analysis
IncludedUser-triggered deep architectural analysis of a codebase or scoped subtree across eight modes — information architecture, data flow, integration points, UI surfaces, interaction patterns, data model, control flow, and failure modes. This skill should be used when the user asks to "diagram this codebase," "map the architecture," "show the data flow," "give me an ERD," "trace control flow," "find the integration points," "verify the layout pattern," "audit the UX architecture," or any similar request whose primary deliverable is mermaid diagrams plus cited reports under docs/architecture/. Dispatches haiku/sonnet sub-agents in parallel for per-mode exploration, then verifies every citation mechanically before any node lands in a diagram. Not for one-off prose explanations of code (use code-explanation) or for high-level system design from scratch (use system-design).
mcp
IncludedModel Context Protocol (MCP) server development and tool management. Languages: Python, TypeScript. Capabilities: build MCP servers, integrate external APIs, discover/execute MCP tools, manage multi-server configs, design agent-centric tools. Actions: create, build, integrate, discover, execute, configure MCP servers/tools. Keywords: MCP, Model Context Protocol, MCP server, MCP tool, stdio transport, SSE transport, tool discovery, resource provider, prompt template, external API integration, Gemini CLI MCP, Claude MCP, agent tools, tool execution, server config. Use when: building MCP servers, integrating external APIs as MCP tools, discovering available MCP tools, executing MCP capabilities, configuring multi-server setups, designing tools for AI agents.
react-native-skia
IncludedDesign, build, debug, and optimise high-polish animated graphics in React Native or Expo using @shopify/react-native-skia, Reanimated, and Gesture Handler. Use when the user wants canvas-driven UI, shaders, paths, rich text, image filters, sprite fields, Skottie, video frames, snapshots, web CanvasKit setup, or performance tuning for custom motion-heavy elements such as loaders, hero art, cards, charts, progress indicators, particle systems, or gesture-driven surfaces. Also use when the user asks for fluid, glow, glass, blob, parallax, 60fps/120fps, or GPU-friendly animated effects in React Native, even if they do not explicitly say "Skia". Do not use for ordinary form/layout work with standard views.
plaid
IncludedProduct Led AI Development — guides founders from idea to launched product. Six capabilities: Idea (discover a product idea), Validate (pressure-test the idea against fatal flaws, problem reality, competition, and 2-week MVP feasibility), Plan (vision intake + document generation), Design (translate image references into a design.md spec), Launch (go-to-market strategy), and Build (roadmap execution). Use when someone says "PLAID", "plaid idea", "help me find an idea", "product idea", "idea from my business", "idea from my expertise", "plaid validate", "validate my idea", "pressure-test", "is this idea good", "find fatal flaws", "validate the problem", "plan a product", "define my vision", "generate a PRD", "product strategy", "plaid design", "design from image", "translate image to design", "create design.md", "extract design tokens", "plaid launch", "go-to-market", "launch plan", "GTM strategy", "launch playbook", "plaid build", "build the app", "start building", or "execute the roadmap".
nextjs-framer-motion-animations
IncludedAdds production-safe Motion for React or Framer Motion animations to Next.js apps, including reveal, hover and tap micro-interactions, whileInView, stagger, AnimatePresence, layout and layoutId transitions, reorder, scroll-linked UI, and lightweight route-content transitions. Use when the user asks to add, refactor, or debug Motion or Framer Motion in App Router or Pages Router codebases, especially around server/client boundaries, reduced motion, LazyMotion, bundle size, hydration, or route transitions. Avoid for GSAP-style timelines, WebGL or 3D scenes, heavy scroll storytelling, or CSS-only effects unless Motion is explicitly requested.