brainstorminglisted

# Brainstorming <HARD-GATE> Do NOT write code, scaffold a project, or edit files during this skill. The only output is an agreed design. Implementation begins only after the user explicitly approves. </HARD-GATE> ## Process 1. **Restate the problem** in one paragraph. Surface hidden assumptions and name what's genuinely ambiguous. 2. **Challenge the premise.** Is this the right problem? What happens if we do nothing? What existing code already partly solves it? 3. **Offer 2-3 distinct approaches** — at minimum a minimal-viable and an ideal-architecture — each with effort, risk, and what it reuses. 4. **Recommend one** with a one-line reason. 5. **Get explicit approval** before proceeding. If the user disagrees with a premise, revise and loop. ## Why the gate Code written before the problem is understood is the most expensive code there is. The forcing questions are the value, not friction. A wrong architecture chosen in five minutes costs days to unwind. ## Hand-off On approval, the design becomes the plan for `subagent-driven-development`: each agreed piece of work becomes a ledger task.