brainstorminglisted

# Brainstorming ## Overview Brainstorming explores intent, requirements, and design before implementation. It runs before any code exists — the depth scales with complexity (see the table below; minutes for a simple change, not a fixed quota). This is brownfield-aware brainstorming. Generic brainstorming asks "what should we build?" This skill asks "what already exists, and what is the minimum we need to add?" Every proposal starts from the existing codebase, not from a blank slate. New code earns its place by solving a problem that existing code cannot. The output is a written spec that `exloom:planning-for-handoff` consumes to produce an execution plan. ## Scaling Effort to Complexity Not every feature needs 90 minutes of brainstorming. The process is the same — the depth scales. | Complexity | Examples | Time | What scales down | |---|---|---|---| | **Simple** | CRUD endpoint, config change, add a column | 15-20 min | Design is 3-4 sentences. Steps 5-7 collapse into one message. Spec is half a page. | | **Medium** | New API with integrations, new UI page, add auth to a flow | 30-45 min | Full process, but 2-3 approaches is enough. Spec is 1-2 pages. | | **Complex** | New subsystem, cross-cutting concern, multi-service feature | 60-90 min | Full process, all steps at full depth. Spec is 2-4 pages. | These durations are rough guides, not targets. A change that genuinely needs only five minutes of thought should take five minutes — do not pad it to hit a number. The po