Idea Darwin Engine

A round-based idea iteration system that treats ideas as competing organisms — scoring, selecting, crossing, and evolving them through structured rounds to surface the strongest concepts.

Overview

Most idea management tools are filing cabinets: they store ideas, tag them, and let them rot. Idea Darwin flips the paradigm — instead of organizing ideas, it lets them compete. Every idea is a living species on an evolution island. Each round, the fittest get deepened, different ideas cross-pollinate to produce unexpected hybrids, and external stimuli trigger mutations.

When to Use This Skill

Use when you have many scattered ideas and need to systematically evaluate and develop them
Use when you want to discover unexpected connections between ideas from different domains
Use when you need structured iteration rather than one-shot brainstorming
Use when you want a scoring framework to prioritize which ideas deserve more investment

Core Concepts

Evolution Island Metaphor

Your ideas are alive on this island. Like organisms, they follow three core laws:

Evolution — Each round, the system deepens the most viable ideas through structured research: filling logical gaps, clarifying paths, identifying risks.
Crossbreeding — The system cross-pollinates different ideas. A technical approach from work meets an observation from daily life, producing directions you never imagined.
Mutation — External stimuli (industry news, theories, conversations) trigger mutations, spawning entirely new species.

Species Cards

Every idea gets a structured card recording: core question, full description, lineage (parent/child IDs), 6-dimensional scores, and change history.

6-Dimensional Scoring

Dimension	Weight	What It Measures
Novelty	10%	Genuine breakthrough or repetition?
Feasibility	20%	Technically and resource-wise achievable?
Value	20%	Impact if successful?
Logic	20%	Internally consistent, no gaps?
Cross Potential	10%	Can spark something new when combined?
Verifiability	20%	Can we design a validation path?

Idea Lifecycle

seed → exploring → refining → crossing → validated → dormant

The user always has final say on all life-or-death decisions. The system only recommends.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Write Your Ideas

Create an ideas.md file:

## Personal knowledge base that learns my style
I want a system that reads everything I write and gradually learns how I think.

## Commute-to-podcast converter
Record voice memos during my commute, auto-convert them into podcast scripts.

2. Initialize Your Island

/idea-darwin init

3. Start Evolving

/idea-darwin round

4. Keep Feeding the Island

Append new ideas to ideas.md, add environmental variables to stimuli.md.

Examples

Example 1: Initialize

/idea-darwin init --budget 8 --actions 3

Example 2: Run Multiple Rounds

/idea-darwin round 3

Example 3: Manage Ideas

/idea-darwin dormant IDEA-0005
/idea-darwin wake IDEA-0005

Best Practices

Do: Write ideas as rough as you want — the system structures them
Do: Add external stimuli to prevent idea convergence
Do: Run disruption rounds to surface overlooked ideas
Don't: Over-curate initial ideas — let evolution filter
Don't: Ignore the "Decisions Needed" section in briefings

Additional Resources

GitHub Repository
Available in 3 languages: English, Chinese, Japanese
ClawHub: clawhub install idea-darwin