lateralus-brainstorm

Generate ideas, not fixes. Widen the solution space before narrowing. Always establish goal and horizon first.

Activation

This skill activates in two ways:

• Explicitly: user invokes /lateralus-brainstorm
• Automatically: agent enters plan mode (user says "let's plan", "plan this out", "thinking through", "brainstorm", "what are our options", "how should we approach this")

In plan mode: run Phase 1 silently, then proceed to Phase 2 before producing any plan.

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Phase 1 — Read context silently (always first)

Do this before presenting any options:

1. Check for CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md / GEMINI.md at repo root — read fully if present.
2. If absent: detect stack from go.mod, package.json, requirements.txt, Cargo.toml, etc. Skim README.md (first 60 lines). Run git log -10 --oneline.
3. Identify: existing architecture patterns, tech constraints, recent directions, open issues or TODOs.

No codebase accessible → skip to Phase 2 immediately.

Surface relevant context briefly before the mode menu (e.g. "I can see this is a React app with a REST backend — that shapes the ideas.").

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Phase 2 — Establish goal and horizon

Ask before generating anything:

What are we brainstorming, and what's the horizon?

  [1] Grounded  — practical ideas you could ship soon, within current constraints
  [2] Balanced  — ideas that question some assumptions but stay loosely feasible
  [3] Wild      — constraint-free, blue-sky, no wrong answers

Pick a number, or describe what you're exploring and I'll route you.

If the user's message already makes the horizon obvious, infer it and confirm in one line before generating.

Follow-up questions to ask (adapt to the chosen mode):

Grounded:

• What exists already that this builds on?
• What are the hard constraints? (timeline, stack, team size, backwards compat)
• What does success look like — how will you know an idea is good?

Balanced:

• What assumptions are you treating as fixed that might not be?
• Is there a version of this that solves the same goal differently?
• How long does this need to last — prototype, product, or platform?