Define a new feature
Clarify the intended user outcome before choosing behavior, scope, or implementation details.
Brainstorming by Jesse Vincent
Use Brainstorming from Superpowers to clarify what a project should accomplish before implementation. Explore the existing context, discuss approaches and trade-offs, and turn the chosen direction into a design document that can guide the next planning step without silently filling important gaps with assumptions.
Install and get started
Choose your agent to see how to get started. In Floatboat, copy a request that asks the agent to read the original instructions. Other options show the Skill installation command or the publisher’s native setup steps.
Choose an agent
Start in Floatboat
Copy the request into a Floatboat conversation
Read the original Brainstorming instructions at https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/main/skills/brainstorming/SKILL.md. Explain its purpose, required tools, and installation options, then help me use it.Let the agent read the original instructions and check how to use them in your environment.
Download Floatboat ↗Try this request
Use Superpowers Brainstorming to plan a receipt-review workflow. Read the current project first, clarify the user outcome, and compare approaches before writing a design.
About Brainstorming
Brainstorming is the intent-and-design Skill in Superpowers, maintained by Jesse Vincent and the project’s contributors. It helps an agent understand the desired outcome and its reasons before deciding what to build. Existing project context is read first; the conversation then explores unresolved goals, constraints, and alternatives. Substantial work moves through an agreed approach and a written design before the writing-plans companion takes over. The current source also distinguishes fully specified small tasks and users who choose to proceed without further questions. Installing the Superpowers integration keeps its bootstrap and companion instructions available; copying only this file does not recreate that broader workflow.
Use Cases for Brainstorming
Explore work where the requested outcome leaves meaningful design choices open. Clarify a new feature, reshape an existing workflow, or define a non-code project by understanding the audience, constraints, and alternatives before committing to a design that another agent can plan from.
Reshape an existing workflow
Read current materials and identify which parts should change and why.
Plan a non-code project
Explore goals, constraints, and alternatives for a talk, process, or other creative project.
How to Explore a Design with Brainstorming
Install the Superpowers integration for your agent, provide the request and relevant existing material, and let the discussion focus on missing decisions. Compare the proposed approaches, review the appropriately sized design, and confirm the handoff to planning when the remaining choices are sufficiently clear.
- 01
Provide the task and context
Share the intended outcome and relevant files or earlier decisions. Let existing evidence answer facts before discussing open choices.
- 02
Choose an approach
Discuss unresolved needs and compare alternatives. Review the agent’s understanding and correct assumptions before settling the direction.
- 03
Review the design handoff
Inspect a design sized to the work and confirm it before planning. Keep the companion writing-plans Skill available for the next stage.
Explore More Agent Skills
Read another Skill guide and check its original source before using it.
Brainstorming FAQ
Who publishes this Brainstorming Skill?
It belongs to obra/superpowers, the project built by Jesse Vincent and contributors. It is distinct from similarly named brainstorming instructions in other collections.
Is it simply an idea generator?
Its focus is understanding the intended outcome, exploring alternatives, and agreeing a design. Generating ideas can help, but is not the whole workflow.
Must every small change produce a long document?
The current source sizes the process to the work and distinguishes fully specified quick tasks. Larger or unresolved work needs more explicit design agreement.
What if I prefer to proceed without questions?
The current source describes an opt-out path when the user asks to get going. The agent should state significant implementation choices rather than presenting them as decisions you already made.
Why install Superpowers instead of one file?
The integration provides bootstrap instructions and companion workflows such as writing-plans. A copied standalone file does not reproduce their automatic loading or handoff behavior.
Does it immediately write implementation code?
For unresolved substantial work, the documented process establishes the approach and design before planning and implementation. User-approved exploration or a direct opt-out is treated separately.
Is the visual companion required?
No. The visual companion is optional, and the core planning conversation does not require it. Decide whether to open it according to the task and the environment you use.
How do Codex App and Codex CLI installation differ?
Codex App uses the Plugins sidebar: locate Superpowers in Coding, click +, and follow the prompts. Codex CLI uses /plugins to search for Superpowers and select Install Plugin. These are two interfaces for the official plugin marketplace.