idea-to-mvp

Idea to MVP

Purpose

Transform a rough, informal idea (even a single paragraph) into a validated requirement document and actionable MVP plan. The agent acts as a domain-expert product manager — actively asking questions, confirming understanding, identifying skill gaps, researching the competitive landscape, and ultimately delivering a structured spec with mermaid diagrams ready for implementation handoff.

When to Use

• User provides a short idea or concept and wants to explore it
• User says "I have an idea", "help me figure out what to build"
• User wants to go from zero to a structured MVP plan
• User asks "what would the MVP look like for X?"
• User provides rough notes and wants a product manager perspective

When NOT to Use

• User already has formal requirements (use requirement-study instead)
• User has requirements and wants implementation tasks (use implementation-sketch)
• User wants to present an existing plan (use deck-creator)
• User wants to write code immediately (that's coding, not discovery)

Inputs

Required:

• Raw idea — a few lines of text describing what the user wants to build

Optional:

• Project name — if not provided, the agent will suggest one
• Target audience or market context
• Known technical constraints or preferences
• Budget or timeline context
• Existing competitors the user is already aware of

Process

Step 1: Preflight Tooling Check

Run non-blocking checks for tools needed later:

# Mermaid CLI for diagram rendering
if command -v mmdc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  mmdc --version
else
  echo "mmdc not installed; diagrams will be inline Mermaid codeblocks"
fi

# PDF generation tooling (for final export)
if command -v pandoc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  echo "pandoc available"
else
  echo "pandoc not installed; PDF export will need manual conversion"
fi

If tools are missing, note in agent.todo.md under Next but do not block.

Step 2: Capture and Summarize the Idea

Read the user's raw input carefully. Produce a 3-5 sentence summary that distills:

• What they want to build (the core product/feature)
• Who it is for (target users/audience)
• Why it matters (the problem being solved or value created)