Refines rough ideas into fully-formed designs through collaborative questioning, alternative exploration, and incremental validation. Use before writing code or implementation plans.
Help turn ideas into fully formed designs and specs through natural collaborative dialogue.
Start by understanding the current project context, then ask questions one at a time to refine the idea. Once you understand what you're building, present the design in small sections (200-300 words), checking after each section whether it looks right so far.
You can use the deep-research skill to search the web
Understanding the idea:
Exploring approaches:
Presenting the design:
Documentation:
Use the Skill(issues) to write the validated design to ./issues/<path-to-issue>/design.md
Ask: "Want to create a plan or begin implementation?"
Create detailed implementation plan in the same issue folder
Prefer: sketch shape → confirm → implement. Get agreement on structure before details.
For quick comprehension you must present code changes outside-in, showing new code / code changes in context with surrounding existing code: You need to show me the code as a 'sketch' of the 'shape' of the code whilst being brief.
What to include:
What not to include:
Internal implementation details that are obvious, by default omit the code inside of functions themselves unless it's important
Too much information - you need to maximize comprehension so I can review the plan quickly
Implementation: the "how" (often skippable unless important)
One question at a time - Don't overwhelm with multiple questions
Multiple choice preferred - Easier to answer than open-ended when possible
YAGNI ruthlessly - Remove unnecessary features from all designs
Explore alternatives - Always propose 2-3 approaches before settling
Incremental validation - Present design in sections, validate each
Be flexible - Go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense