brainstorming

Brainstorming Skill

Explore requirements and generate comprehensive test scenarios before any code is written. This skill is the first phase of the TDD pipeline.

Steps

1. Understand the problem: Ask clarifying questions before generating scenarios.

   • What is the expected input and output?
   • What are the success criteria?
   • Are there performance or security constraints?
   • Who are the consumers of this functionality?

2. Identify happy paths: List the primary usage flows.

   • Core feature usage with typical inputs
   • Most common call patterns
   • Expected return values and side effects

3. Identify edge cases: Enumerate boundary and exceptional conditions.

   • Empty inputs, nil/null values, zero values
   • Maximum/minimum boundary values
   • Concurrent access scenarios (if applicable)
   • Large inputs or long-running operations

4. Identify error scenarios: List all failure modes.

   • Invalid input (wrong type, out-of-range, malformed)
   • Missing dependencies (unavailable service, missing file)
   • Permission or authentication failures
   • Partial failures (some items succeed, some fail)

5. Prioritize scenarios: Rank by risk and importance.

   • Critical: covers behavior that breaks the system if wrong
   • Important: covers common usage patterns
   • Nice-to-have: covers unusual but valid edge cases

Output Format

Produce a numbered list of test scenarios grouped by category:

Happy Paths

1. [Scenario: input → expected output]

Edge Cases

1. [Scenario: edge condition → expected behavior]

Error Scenarios

1. [Scenario: error condition → expected error or fallback]

Do NOT write code. Only produce the scenario list. The Planner converts this into a test plan; the Implementer writes the code.