Ideate

Ideate

Turns a problem statement into a small set of validated, evolved ideas by simulating a nominal group of independent generators, scoring with independent judges, and breeding the winners — instead of asking one context for a list and polishing it.

> This SKILL.md is a thin index. Phase procedures live in rules/*.md and load on demand. > The evidence behind every numerical default lives in [references/ideation-research.md](./references/ideation-research.md) — section references below (§) point there, and its defaults tables flag which numbers are study values vs the skill's own operationalizations.

Contents

• [Mode Detection](#mode-detection)
• [Workflow](#workflow)
• [Quick vs deep](#quick-vs-deep)
• [Composition](#composition)
• [Core Principles](#core-principles)
• [Self-Improvement](#self-improvement)
• [Anti-patterns](#anti-patterns)
• [Definition of Done](#definition-of-done)

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Mode Detection

Parse $ARGUMENTS:

| Mode | Default | Trigger | | ------- | ------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | | quick | | quick token, or auto-triage says small. | | deep | | deep token, or auto-triage says open-ended. | | auto | yes | No mode token — run the depth triage table below. |

| Flag | Default | Meaning | | -------------- | ------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | | --n | 3 | Number of finalists in the report. | | --no-framing | off | Skip Phase 1 (problem is already well-framed). |

Everything else in $ARGUMENTS is the problem statement. If it is missing, ask for it — never ideate on a guessed problem.

Depth triage (auto mode)

First match wins:

| # | Signal | Depth | | - | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | 1 | User asks for thorough / extensive / "really new" ideas, or the problem combines ≥ 2 domains ("X meets Y"). | deep | | 2 | Outcome is a product, business, strategy, or roadmap decision. | deep | | 3 | Problem is a local decision: naming, small feature shape, workaround, single component. | quick | | 4 | User is mid-conversation and wants options fast ("any ideas?", "what do you think?"). | quick | | 5 | Unsure. | quick, and name the escalation path: "run /ideate deep for the full pipeline". |

Cost expectation: a deep --n 3 run dispatches ~17 subagents (2 bursts × 5 generators, 1 pool judge, 1 breeder, 1 variant judge, 3 panel judges, 1 pre-mortem) — prefer quick for casual or budget-sensitive asks.

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Workflow

| Phase | Name | Rule file | Gate | | ----- | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 0 | Intake & triage | (inline below) | Problem restated in one sentence; success criterion named; depth chosen; lessons read. | | 1 | Frame | (inline below) | 3–5 "How Might We" framings at different widths; one selected and logged. | | 2 | Diverge | [rules/divergence.md](./rules/divergence.md) | Pool ≥ 12 (quick) / ≥ 25 (deep) unique ideas; zero evaluation happened during generation. | | 3 | Score | [rules/idea-scoring.md](./rules/idea-scoring.md) | Every pooled idea scored on 4 independent axes by a non-generator judge. | | 4 | Evolve | [rules/evolution-loop.md](./rules/evolution-loop.md) | ≤ 3 rounds; stopped on flat external scores, never on self-assessed improvement. | | 5 | Validate | [rules/idea-scoring.md](./rules/idea-scoring.md) § Finalist validation | Every finalist has an executability probe; confidence(analysis) ≥ 70 on the recommendation. | | 6 | Report | [templates/ideation-report.md](./templates/ideation-report.md) | Report emitted; high-novelty wildcard included; verdict question asked. | | 7 | Learn | [rules/self-improvement-loop.md](./rules/self-improvement-loop.md) | Lessons written — mechanics only, never idea content. |

Phase 0 — Intake & triage

1. Read lessons (advisory input for mechanics only — see the hard invariant under Self-Improvement).

Check the paths first — when neither ~/.agent-memory/ideate-lessons/ nor memory/ideate-lessons/INDEX.md exists (first run), skip without invoking persistent-memory:

``text Skill("persistent-memory", "read ideate-lessons --tier home") if [ -f memory/ideate-lessons/INDEX.md ]; then Skill("persistent-memory", "read ideate-lessons --tier project-shared") fi ``

1. Restate the problem in one sentence and name the success criterion — what makes an idea "good" here (cheapest, most novel, shippable this week, …).
2. Run the depth triage table unless a mode token was given.
3. If the user supplied seed ideas, add them to the pool unlabeled — judges must not know which ideas are the user's.

Phase 1 — Frame

Problem framing measurably shapes ideation breadth and direction (§2.5) — skip only with --no-framing.

1. Generate 3–5 "How Might We" framings at deliberately different widths, from the literal ask to the underlying job-to-be-done — the width variation is the evidenced part (§2.5); the HMW phrasing is convention.
2. Interactive session → ask the user to pick one (a single batched question).

Autonomous or backgrounded → pick the framing one step wider than the literal ask, and log the choice in the report.

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Quick vs deep

| Aspect | quick | deep | | --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Generation | In-context, 2 bursts × 8 ideas, operators rotated per burst. | 5 parallel persona subagents × 6 ideas per burst, ≥ 2 bursts (§1.4, §4.4). | | Fixation guard | Operator switch + "what has NOT been said yet" reseed (§1.5). | Independent contexts — the structural fix (§4.3). | | Judging | Separate in-context pass with rubric, order-swapped pairwise. | Fresh judge subagent; panel of 3 judges for finalists (§4.7). | | Evolution | ≤ 1 round. | ≤ 3 rounds (§5.1). | | Report | Inline. | Inline + written to .agent/ideate/-.md. |

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Composition

| Skill | When | Call | | ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | | confidence | Phase 5, on the finalist recommendation. | Skill("confidence", "analysis") | | critical | Deep mode, top finalist (automatic); any finalist on request. | Skill("critical", "analysis") — run inside a fresh subagent so the pre-mortem stays adversarial and the main context stays lean. | | ux | Finalists that are UI/UX or product-surface concepts. | Skill("ux") as a lens on the finalist. | | persistent-memory | Phases 0 and 7. | See [rules/self-improvement-loop.md](./rules/self-improvement-loop.md). |

confidence is required; the others are optional — skip silently if not installed.

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Core Principles

1. Simulate a nominal group, not a meeting. Independent generation contexts, pooled afterwards — never one long list from one context (§1.2, §4.3).
2. Strictly separate generation from evaluation. The one Osborn rule that survives scrutiny; no feasibility talk inside a generation pass (§3.1).
3. Diversity comes from personas and prompts, not temperature. Temperature is a weak novelty lever with a coherence cost (§4.6).
4. The judge is never the generator. Self-scoring amplifies self-bias per iteration (§4.7, §5.1).
5. Protect novelty at selection. Default selection sacrifices originality for feasibility and performs near-randomly; always carry one high-novelty pick (§3.2).
6. Iterate by recombination across lineages, not polishing. Cap at 3 rounds; stop on flat external scores (§5.1–§5.3).
7. The obvious ideas come first. Always run a second burst seeded with "what has NOT been said yet" (§1.5).
8. Pre-execution novelty is inflated. Every finalist needs a concrete first-step probe before it is recommended (§4.2).

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Self-Improvement

Two-tier loop, scope ideate-lessons — full contract in [rules/self-improvement-loop.md](./rules/self-improvement-loop.md), diagnostic surface in [rules/diagnostic-surface.md](./rules/diagnostic-surface.md).

Hard invariant: divergence runs lessons-blind. Lessons may inform mechanics — depth triage, operator effectiveness, judge calibration, stopping behavior — and must never seed, filter, or steer idea content. "What kinds of ideas the user tends to pick" is on the never-store list: it would entrench homogenization, the exact failure this skill exists to avoid.

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Anti-patterns

• One 30-idea list from a single context — within-context fixation makes the last 20 near-duplicates.
• Scoring or feasibility talk during a generation pass.
• Letting the generation context judge its own output.
• Averaging the four axes into one number before selection, then picking the top-n — this silently discards every high-novelty idea.
• A 4th evolution round because it "still feels like it's improving" — self-assessed improvement is the signal that lies.
• Storing user idea-taste as a lesson.

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Definition of Done

• [ ] Problem restated and success criterion named before any generation.
• [ ] Generation and evaluation never co-occurred in one pass.
• [ ] Pool met the unique-idea gate for the chosen depth.
• [ ] Every finalist has all four axis scores, an executability probe, and the confidence gate result.
• [ ] Report includes the high-novelty wildcard and the run stats (bursts, non-duplicate yield, evolution rounds, score trajectory).
• [ ] User verdict requested; lessons written per the loop contract.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: mthines
• Source: mthines/agent-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.