Brainstorm Skill

Brainstorm Skill

A divergent-then-convergent dialogue cadence for ideas whose direction is still being formed. Compresses the conversation into one ElaborationRound of decision-point Q&A — same shape as a structured elaboration round, but the questions, options and answers are synthesized at the end of the conversation rather than asked up front.

This skill is a producer of one elaboration round; the scheduler decision (resolve vs. follow-up) belongs to the calling idea skill.

When invoked

Only as a sub-step of the idea skill, only after the user has explicitly opted in (a yes to the brainstorm offer, given in chat or as a reply to the idea skill's @mention comment). Never run standalone, never run without user opt-in. The expected entry point is the idea skill's "Step 4.5: Brainstorm Mode (Optional Prelude)" — load it with skill_view("chorus:idea") to see the surrounding flow.

How a brainstorm question reaches the human

Every question in this skill is asked one at a time, through one of two channels. Pick the channel from the session you are in:

• Interactive mode — the human is in chat (a Hermes CLI/TUI session where the human is typing to you): ask the question directly in the chat. Number it, list the options with letters (a, b, c…), mark your recommended option, and wait for the reply. Do not create an elaboration round per chat question — the synthesized round in Step 6 is the audit trail for interactive brainstorms.

• Gateway mode — Chorus woke you, or no human is in chat (a hermes gateway turn triggered by a Chorus notification, in the session keyed idea:<ideaUuid>): each question becomes one single-question elaboration round:

  1. chorus_pm_start_elaboration({ ideaUuid, depth: "minimal", questions: [ <exactly one question> ] }). Prefix brainstorm question ids with bs (bs1, bs2, …) so the rounds are recognizable when you resume.
  2. Post one pointer comment on the Idea with chorus_add_comment that @mentions the owner (@[Name](user:<ownerUuid>), owner from the ## Checkin the Chorus Hermes plugin injected, or chorus_checkin), e.g. "@[Owner](user:<uuid>) Brainstorm question <n> is waiting in the elaboration panel: <one-line question>." The comment only points at the round; it never carries a summary or transcript.
  3. END THE TURN. Do not poll. The gateway wakes you (same idea:<ideaUuid> session) when the round is answered or the owner replies.
  4. On wake, re-read chorus_get_elaboration({ ideaUuid }) to recover the answers so far (context may have been compressed), then continue with the next single question.

  Each gateway round counts toward the Idea's 10-round cap, and the caller still needs room for a follow-up structured round. Keep gateway brainstorms tight: few divergent questions, then the convergence question.

The Chorus UI adds a free-text "Other" to every round question automatically — do not add one yourself. In chat, the human may always answer in free text.

Research boundary

Reuse the calling Idea's findings and follow the shared research rules (skill_view("chorus:research")); switching into brainstorm does not grant a second investigation. If the goal needed focusing first, after the user selects a direction and before synthesis, apply the caller's optional research decision once with that focus. Return any findings alongside the synthesized round for the Idea caller to persist. Research does not choose the user's direction, remove the opt-in/selection gate, write files/comments, or resolve elaboration.

Hard rules

1. One question at a time. Each chat message asks exactly one question; in gateway mode each chorus_pm_start_elaboration call contains exactly one question entry. Wait for the answer before asking the next.
2. Multi-choice preferred. Frame each question as 2-4 options where possible. Open-ended is acceptable when options would be premature, but lean toward concrete choices. (A round question always needs 2-5 options; if you truly need an open question in gateway mode, give your best-guess options and let the human use "Other".)
3. Propose 2-3 directions before stopping divergence. Once the requirement direction is clear enough to enumerate, present 2-3 distinct approaches in a single question (one chat question, or one single-question round). Mark exactly one as recommended: in chat append (Recommended) to that option; in a round, append (Recommended) to that option's label and say why in its description.