Design Gates Socratic Brainstorming

---
name: design-gates-socratic-brainstorming
description: "Socratic refinement: one question at a time, alternatives with tradeoffs, segment-confirmed design docs."
---
# Brainstorm with the agent before any code

> Socratic refinement: one question at a time, alternatives with tradeoffs, segment-confirmed design docs.

**Track:** 🔄 Agentic Methodology · **Domain:** Design Gates · **Level:** foundation · **~25 min**

**Who this is for:** Agent Power Users, AI-Native Engineers, Teams Shipping With Agents, Solo Builders

## When to Use This Skill

Socratic refinement: one question at a time, alternatives with tradeoffs, segment-confirmed design docs.
Use it whenever a matching task appears in conversation — the agent loads these instructions on demand.

## Steps

1. State the rough idea in two sentences; let the agent ask ONE question at a time
2. Demand 2-3 alternative approaches WITH tradeoffs before accepting any
3. Review the emerging design in 200-word segments; approve or redirect each
4. Kill every feature that survives no YAGNI challenge — cut ruthlessly
5. Commit the final design as a dated document the implementation will reference
6. Refuse to let implementation start until you can restate the design unaided

## Common Pitfalls

- Vibes-based approval of walls of text never segmented
- Feature creep smuggled in during 'small clarifications'

## Commands

**Install with skills CLI**
```bash
npx skills add aniruddhaadak80/skills --skill design-gates-socratic-brainstorming
```

**Install globally**
```bash
npx skills add aniruddhaadak80/skills --skill design-gates-socratic-brainstorming -g
```

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Part of [aniruddhaadak80/skills](https://github.com/aniruddhaadak80/skills) · Browse all at https://skills.sh/aniruddhaadak80/skills