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brainstorming-skill

You MUST use this before any creative work - creating features, building components, adding functionality, modifying behavior, or when users request help with ideation, marketing, and strategic planning. Explores user intent, requirements, and design before implementation using 30+ research-validated prompt patterns.

55

Quality

61%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

No eval scenarios have been run

SecuritybySnyk

Passed

No known issues

Fix and improve this skill with Tessl

tessl review fix ./plugins/brainstorming-skill/skills/brainstorming-skill/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

62%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

This skill provides a well-structured brainstorming workflow with strong validation gates and clear sequencing, which is its primary strength. Its main weaknesses are redundant presentation of the same workflow in multiple formats, lack of concrete examples showing what good brainstorming output looks like, and reliance on reference files that cannot be verified. The pattern categories are listed but not actionable without the reference files.

Suggestions

Add a concrete example of a brainstorming session (e.g., a mini transcript showing clarifying questions, approach proposals, and a design snippet) to make the skill more actionable.

Remove the redundant mermaid interpretation instructions ('When provided a process map or Mermaid diagram...') as Claude already understands how to read mermaid diagrams—this would improve conciseness.

Consolidate the workflow description to appear only once (either the numbered list OR the mermaid diagram, not both) to reduce token usage.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The skill is moderately efficient but includes some redundancy—the workflow is described three times (numbered list, mermaid diagram, and process flow section preamble). The mermaid instruction preamble about how to interpret diagrams is generic knowledge Claude already has. The format_guidance section with percentage claims ('increases quality 40%') adds questionable value.

2 / 3

Actionability

The workflow steps are concrete and sequenced, and the pattern selection guide provides clear decision paths. However, the actual pattern content is deferred to reference files (which aren't provided), the 14 category descriptions are just one-line summaries without executable detail, and there are no concrete examples of what a brainstorming session looks like in practice (e.g., example clarifying questions, example approach proposals, example design document).

2 / 3

Workflow Clarity

The workflow is clearly sequenced with explicit phases (Discovery → Validation → Completion), includes a validation checkpoint with an explicit approval gate and revision loop, and the mermaid diagram reinforces the exact sequence. The HARD-GATE constraint is unambiguous. The feedback loop (user requests revision → re-present) is well-defined.

3 / 3

Progressive Disclosure

The skill has good structure with a clear overview and references to 7 separate reference files for detailed pattern documentation. However, since no bundle files are provided, we cannot verify these references exist or are accurate. The category index inline is appropriately summarized, but the pattern selection guide mermaid diagram could arguably live in the referenced pattern-selection-guide.md rather than inline, and some content (like the mermaid interpretation instructions) adds bulk to the main file.

2 / 3

Total

9

/

12

Passed

Description

59%

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

The description attempts to cover both 'what' and 'when' but is undermined by its extreme breadth — claiming to be required 'before any creative work' makes it a catch-all that would conflict with virtually every other skill. The actual capabilities are vaguely described ('explores user intent, requirements, and design'), and the use of second-person imperative voice ('You MUST use this') is inappropriate. The mention of '30+ research-validated prompt patterns' is a buzzword-like claim that doesn't clarify what the skill actually does.

Suggestions

Narrow the trigger scope dramatically — instead of 'any creative work,' specify the exact scenarios where this pre-implementation exploration is needed (e.g., 'Use when starting a new project from scratch or when requirements are ambiguous').

Replace vague capability language with concrete actions — instead of 'explores user intent, requirements, and design,' specify outputs like 'generates requirements documents, creates user stories, produces design specifications.'

Remove the imperative 'You MUST use this' framing and switch to third-person descriptive voice (e.g., 'Guides requirements gathering and design exploration before implementation').

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

It names some actions ('creating features, building components, adding functionality, modifying behavior') and mentions '30+ research-validated prompt patterns,' but the actual capabilities are vague — 'explores user intent, requirements, and design' doesn't describe concrete outputs or actions the skill performs.

2 / 3

Completeness

It explicitly answers both 'what' (explores user intent, requirements, and design before implementation using prompt patterns) and 'when' (before any creative work, creating features, building components, ideation, marketing, strategic planning). The 'Use when' equivalent is present via 'You MUST use this before...'.

3 / 3

Trigger Term Quality

Includes some natural terms like 'ideation,' 'marketing,' 'strategic planning,' 'features,' 'components,' but these are extremely broad and would match many unrelated requests. Missing more specific trigger terms that would help distinguish this skill (e.g., 'requirements gathering,' 'design exploration,' 'brainstorming').

2 / 3

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

The description is extremely broad — 'any creative work,' 'creating features,' 'building components,' 'adding functionality,' 'modifying behavior' would trigger for nearly every development or creative task, creating massive conflict with other skills. It essentially claims to be a prerequisite for almost everything.

1 / 3

Total

8

/

12

Passed

Validation

100%

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation11 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository
Jamie-BitFlight/claude_skills
Reviewed

Table of Contents

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