Brainstorming Ideas Into Plans

Help turn a rough idea into a fully formed plan or note through natural collaborative dialogue.

Start by understanding the current vault context, then ask questions one at a time to refine the idea. Once you understand what the user is trying to achieve, present the plan and get approval.

Folder paths in this skill are the template defaults — the authoritative paths live in the "Folder roles" table in CLAUDE.md's Vault structure section. Look folders up there by role — never trust the literal defaults on a renamed or non-English vault.

Anti-Pattern: "This Is Too Simple To Need a Plan"

Every substantial idea goes through this process. A new project, a content series, a trip, a learning goal — all of them. "Simple" ideas are where unexamined assumptions cause the most wasted effort. The plan can be short (a few sentences for truly simple ideas), but you MUST present it and get approval.

Process

Understanding the idea:

• Read the vault context first: 00-Context/ (especially About-Me, ICP, Offer, Writing-Style when the idea is content- or business-related), the related project/area files, and the most recent daily notes.
• Before asking detailed questions, assess scope: if the idea is really several independent undertakings bundled together, flag that immediately and help decompose it first. Then brainstorm the first piece.
• Ask questions one at a time to refine the idea — never in a block.
• Prefer multiple-choice questions when possible, but open-ended is fine too.
• Only one question per message — if a topic needs more exploration, break it into multiple questions.
• Focus on understanding: purpose, constraints, success criteria, and how it connects to existing projects and areas.
• Don't ask what the vault already answers — read it instead.

Exploring approaches:

• Propose 2-3 different approaches with trade-offs.
• Present options conversationally, leading with your recommendation and the reasoning behind it.

Presenting the plan:

• Once you believe you understand the idea, present the plan in sections scaled to their complexity: a few sentences if straightforward, a couple of short paragraphs if nuanced.
• Ask after each section whether it looks right so far.
• Cover, as applicable: the goal, the concrete next steps, what already exists in the vault that it builds on, what new notes/files it needs, and how success will be recognized.
• Be ready to go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense.

After Approval

Only after explicit approval, write the result into the vault:

• A new undertaking with a clear goal and end → a project file in 02-Projects/ (single .md file, no subfolder), following the vault's project template.
• Refinement of an ongoing responsibility → the relevant area file in 03-Areas/.
• Collected knowledge without an action component → the fitting topic in 04-Resources/.
• Genuinely unclear where it belongs → 01-Inbox/, flagged for filing later.

Link the new note to related notes via [[wikilinks]]. Record next steps as todos — per the vault's todo rule they also go into today's daily note, linked to the detail page.

Key Principles

• One question at a time — don't overwhelm with multiple questions.
• Multiple choice preferred — easier to answer than open-ended when possible.
• Cut ruthlessly — strip unnecessary scope from every plan; a smaller plan that happens beats a bigger one that doesn't.
• Explore alternatives — always propose 2-3 approaches before settling.
• Incremental validation — present the plan, get approval before writing anything.
• Be flexible — go back and clarify when something doesn't make sense.