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Brainstorming Before Building

Makes the agent ask clarifying questions and agree a design before it starts building anything

Source Download skill
Repository
jnMetaCode/superpowers-zh
Stars
8,444
Licence
MIT
Files
7 files

What it does

Once installed, the agent stops jumping straight into building whatever you ask for. For anything non-trivial it first asks open questions about what you really want and why, offers sensible defaults, proposes a short written design you can approve, and only then starts work. It can also offer an optional browser tab to show mockups or diagrams, and can start a quick throwaway prototype when that is the cheapest way to learn.

Great for

  • People who often get results that miss what they meant and want the agent to clarify first
  • Developers planning a feature or project who want a written design before code
  • Non-programmers planning events, shops, or renovations who want help thinking things through

Skip it if

  • Quick, clear edits such as changing a colour, because the skill makes the agent just do those directly and the extra questioning would slow things down
  • Situations where you want the agent to start coding immediately without discussion, since the skill is designed to block building until you approve a design

Try asking

  • “Help me brainstorm a new login feature for my app before we write any code”
  • “I want to plan a small shop renovation; ask me the right questions first”
  • “Let's design a dashboard for our sales data, show me a mockup in the browser if it helps”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Brainstorming Before BuildingInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 7 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    brainstorming.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip brainstorming.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip brainstorming.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Describe your goal in your own words first; the skill is designed to let you lead rather than picking from options.
  • Say explicitly if you want to skip questions and let the agent just start, since the skill respects that.
  • Only accept the browser visual companion when you actually want to see mockups; you can decline and continue in text.

What's inside

  • builder-check-prompt.md
  • scripts/frame-template.html
  • scripts/helper.js
  • scripts/start-server.sh
  • scripts/stop-server.sh
  • SKILL.md
  • visual-companion.md

Redistributed unmodified from jnMetaCode/superpowers-zh under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.