<brain_dump> #$ARGUMENTS </brain_dump>

Brainstorm

Get everything out of your head and into one place. Pull in references. Find the shape of the problem before you commit to a plan.

When to Use

After a meeting where next steps need to be figured out
Starting a new project, campaign, or strategy
"I need to think through X", "Let me brain dump", "Help me figure this out"
When you have scattered inputs (notes, docs, transcripts) that need organizing

Process

Step 1: Capture the brain dump

Accept whatever the user gives you. This might be:

A pasted meeting transcript
A voice-to-text dump
Bullet points and half-formed thoughts
A link to a document
"Here's what I'm thinking about..."

Do not organize yet. Just acknowledge what you received and identify what type of input it is.

If the user hasn't given you anything yet, prompt:

"What are you working on? You can paste meeting notes, describe the problem, or just start talking. I'll help organize it."

Step 2: Extract the core elements

From the brain dump, pull out:

Key decisions that need to be made
Open questions that don't have answers yet
Constraints (timeline, budget, dependencies, blockers)
Stakeholders and what they care about
Data points mentioned (numbers, metrics, references)
Ideas and options that were floated (even half-baked ones)

Present these back as a structured summary:

## What I Heard

**The problem:** [One sentence — what are we trying to figure out?]

**Decisions to make:**
- [Decision 1]
- [Decision 2]

**Open questions:**
- [Question 1]
- [Question 2]

**Constraints:**
- [Timeline, budget, dependencies]

**Stakeholders:**
- [Who] — [what they care about]

**Ideas floated:**
- [Idea 1] — [brief note on pros/cons if mentioned]
- [Idea 2]

**Data points mentioned:**
- [Any numbers, metrics, or references cited]

Step 3: Pull in references (automatic + optional)

<parallel_tasks>

Automatic searches — Run these without asking:

Search docs/knowledge/ for learnings related to the brain dump topics
Search plans/ for related past plans
Search docs/solutions/ for relevant patterns

</parallel_tasks>

For each source found:

**Found:** [source name/path]
**Relevant because:** [one sentence]
**Key takeaway:** [the useful bit]

If nothing relevant is found: "No prior context found in knowledge base or plans."

Optional search — After presenting automatic findings, offer:

"Want me to search externally too? (web, specific documents, other sources)"

If nothing relevant is found, say so. Don't fabricate context.

Step 4: Identify themes and tensions

Look across everything — the brain dump, the extracted elements, and the references — and identify:

Themes — What keeps coming up? What's the real underlying question?
Tensions — Where do ideas conflict? Where are there tradeoffs?
Gaps — What's missing? What hasn't been addressed?

## Themes
1. [Theme] — [why it matters]
2. [Theme] — [why it matters]

## Tensions
- [Option A] vs [Option B] — [the tradeoff]

## Gaps
- [What we don't know yet]
- [What needs more research]

Step 5: Resolve load-bearing questions

Before moving toward a direction, take the open questions and tensions from Step 2 and Step 4 and identify which ones are load-bearing — meaning the plan's structure would change depending on the answer.

Ignore nice-to-know questions. Focus only on ones where different answers lead to different plans. Common load-bearing questions:

Scope: "Is this a quick win or a multi-phase initiative?"
Audience: "Who is this for? That changes everything downstream."
Priority: "You mentioned X and Y — which matters more if we have to choose?"
Timeline: "Are we talking days, weeks, or months?"
Owner: "Who's making the final call on this?"
Constraints: "Is there a budget/resource ceiling I should plan around?"

Use AskUserQuestion to ask 1-3 load-bearing questions at once (never more than 3). Frame each question with options drawn from what surfaced in the brainstorm — don't ask open-ended questions when you already have candidate answers.

Example:

Question: "You mentioned both 'grow trials' and 'improve conversion' — which is the primary goal?" Options: Grow trials (top of funnel) / Improve conversion (bottom of funnel) / Both equally

If all open questions are non-load-bearing (i.e., any answer leads to roughly the same plan), skip this step and say so:

"The open questions won't change the plan's shape — we can resolve them during execution."

Important: This step is a bridge, not an interrogation. 1-3 questions max. The goal is to give /kw:plan clean inputs, not to turn brainstorming into a requirements gathering session.

Step 6: Suggest a direction

Based on everything — including the resolved questions from Step 5 — offer a point of view:

"Based on what I'm seeing, the core question is [X]. The main tension is between [A] and [B]. My suggestion would be to [direction] because [reasoning]. But [caveat]."

This is a suggestion, not a decision. The user decides.

Step 7: Offer next steps

Use AskUserQuestion:

Question: "Brainstorm captured. What next?"

Options:

Run /kw:plan — Structure this into an actionable plan
Dig deeper — Research a specific theme or question further
Push to Proof — Share the brainstorm for team feedback
Save and continue later — Write to plans/brainstorm-{descriptive-name}.md
Keep going — Add more context or refine the themes

<critical_requirement> If "Save" or "Run /kw:plan" is selected: ALWAYS write the brainstorm to plans/brainstorm-{descriptive-name}.md first. This file becomes the origin document that /kw:plan will search for. Never skip the file write. </critical_requirement>

Important Rules

Don't jump to solutions. The point of brainstorming is to understand the problem space before committing to a path. Resist the urge to plan.
Reflect, don't rewrite. When summarizing back, use the user's language. Don't sanitize their thinking into corporate speak.
Surface tensions early, resolve the load-bearing ones late. Steps 2-4 are for naming conflicts without picking winners. Step 5 is for resolving only the ones that would change the plan's shape. Don't collapse tensions prematurely.
Pull, don't push. Ask where references might live rather than guessing. The user knows their information landscape better than you do.
Quantity of input is fine. A 30-minute meeting transcript is good input. Don't ask people to pre-organize before brainstorming — that defeats the purpose.

Pipeline Mode

When invoked with disable-model-invocation context (e.g., from an orchestrator or automation):

Skip all AskUserQuestion prompts
Use sensible defaults for all choices
Write output files without waiting for confirmation
Proceed to the next suggested skill automatically
Output structured results that the calling context can parse

kw:brainstorm