---
title: "feat: Add ce:ideate open-ended ideation skill"
description: "Add a new `ce:ideate` skill to the compound-engineering plugin that performs open-ended, divergent-then-convergent idea generation for any project. The skill deeply scans the codebase, generates ~30 ideas, self-critiques and filters them, and presents the top 5-7 as a ranked list with structured analysis. It uses agent intelligence to improve the candidate pool without replacing the core prompt me"
type: skill
canonical_url: https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/2026-03-15-001-feat-ce-ideate-skill-plan
source: "Claudary"
difficulty: intermediate
author: "Claude Code Knowledge Pack"
date: 2026-07-10T10:58:56.963Z
license: CC-BY-4.0
attribution: "feat: Add ce:ideate open-ended ideation skill — Claudary (https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/2026-03-15-001-feat-ce-ideate-skill-plan)"
---

# feat: Add ce:ideate open-ended ideation skill
Add a new `ce:ideate` skill to the compound-engineering plugin that performs open-ended, divergent-then-convergent idea generation for any project. The skill deeply scans the codebase, generates ~30 ideas, self-critiques and filters them, and presents the top 5-7 as a ranked list with structured analysis. It uses agent intelligence to improve the candidate pool without replacing the core prompt me

## Overview

---
title: "feat: Add ce:ideate open-ended ideation skill"
type: feat
status: completed
date: 2026-03-15
origin: docs/brainstorms/2026-03-15-ce-ideate-skill-requirements.md
deepened: 2026-03-16
---

# feat: Add ce:ideate open-ended ideation skill

## Overview

Add a new `ce:ideate` skill to the compound-engineering plugin that performs open-ended, divergent-then-convergent idea generation for any project. The skill deeply scans the codebase, generates ~30 ideas, self-critiques and filters them, and presents the top 5-7 as a ranked list with structured analysis. It uses agent intelligence to improve the candidate pool without replacing the core prompt mechanism, writes a durable artifact to `docs/ideation/` after the survivors have been reviewed, and hands off selected ideas to `ce:brainstorm`.

## Problem Frame

The ce:* workflow pipeline has a gap at the very beginning. `ce:brainstorm` requires the user to bring an idea — it refines but doesn't generate. Users who want the AI to proactively suggest improvements must resort to ad-hoc prompting, which lacks codebase grounding, structured output, durable artifacts, and pipeline integration. (see origin: docs/brainstorms/2026-03-15-ce-ideate-skill-requirements.md)

## Requirements Trace

- R1. Standalone skill in `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-ideate/`
- R2. Optional freeform argument as focus hint (concept, path, constraint, or empty)
- R3. Deep codebase scan via research agents before generating ideas
- R4. Preserve the proven prompt mechanism: many ideas first, then brutal filtering, then detailed survivors
- R5. Self-critique with explicit rejection reasoning
- R6. Present top 5-7 with structured analysis (description, rationale, downsides, confidence 0-100%, complexity)
- R7. Rejection summary (one-line per rejected idea)
- R8. Durable artifact in `docs/ideation/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-ideation.md`
- R9. Volume overridable via argument
- R10. Handoff: brainstorm an idea, refine, share to Proof, or end session
- R11. Always route to ce:brainstorm for follow-up on selected ideas
- R12. Offer commit on session end
- R13. Resume from existing ideation docs (30-day recency window)
- R14. Present survivors before writing the durable artifact
- R15. Write artifact before handoff/share/end
- R16. Update doc in place on refine when preserving refined state
- R17. Use agent intelligence as support for the core mechanism, not a replacement
- R18. Use research agents for grounding; ideation/critique sub-agents are prompt-defined roles
- R19. Pass grounding summary, focus hint, and volume target to ideation sub-agents
- R20. Focus hints influence both generation and filtering
- R21. Use standardized structured outputs from ideation sub-agents
- R22. Orchestrator owns final scoring, ranking, and survivor decisions
- R23. Use broad prompt-framing methods to encourage creative spread without over-constraining ideation
- R24. Use the smallest useful set of sub-agents rather than a hardcoded fixed count
- R25. Mark ideas as "explored" when brainstormed

## Scope Boundaries

- No external research (competitive analysis, similar projects) in v1 (see origin)
- No configurable depth modes — fixed volume with argument-based override (see origin)
- No modifications to ce:brainstorm — discovery via skill description only (see origin)
- No deprecated `workflows:ideate` alias — the `workflows:*` prefix is deprecated
- No `references/` split — estimated skill length ~300 lines, well under the 500-line threshold

## Context & Research

### Relevant Code and Patterns

- `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-brainstorm/SKILL.md` — Closest sibling. Mirror: resume behavior (Phase 0.1), artifact frontmatter (date + topic), handoff options via platform question tool, document-review integration, Proof sharing
- `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-plan/SKILL.md` — Agent dispatch pattern: `Task compound-engineering:research:repo-research-analyst(context)` running in parallel. Phase 0.2 upstream document detection
- `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-work/SKILL.md` — Session completion: incremental commit pattern, staging specific files, conventional commit format
- `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-compound/SKILL.md` — Parallel research assembly: subagents return text only, orchestrator writes the single file
- `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/document-review/SKILL.md` — Utility invocation: "Load the `document-review` skill and apply it to..." Returns "Review complete" signal
- `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/deepen-plan/SKILL.md` — Broad parallel agent dispatch pattern
- PR #277 (`fix: codex workflow conversion for compound-engineering`) — establishes the Codex model for canonical `ce:*` workflows: prompt wrappers for canonical entrypoints, transformed intra-workflow handoffs, and omission of deprecated `workflows:*` aliases

### Institutional Learnings

- `docs/solutions/plugin-versioning-requirements.md` — Do not bump versions or cut changelog entries in feature PRs. Do update README counts and plugin.json descriptions.
- `docs/solutions/codex-skill-prompt-entrypoints.md` (from PR #277) — for compound-engineering workflows in Codex, prompts are the canonical user-facing entrypoints and copied skills are the reusable implementation units underneath them

## Key Technical Decisions

- **Agent dispatch for codebase scan**: Use `repo-research-analyst` + `learnings-researcher` in parallel (matches ce:plan Phase 1.1). Skip `git-history-analyzer` by default — marginal ideation value for the cost. The focus hint (R2) is passed as context to both agents.
- **Core mechanism first, agents second**: The core design is still the user's proven prompt pattern: generate many ideas, reject aggressively, then explain only the survivors. Agent intelligence improves the candidate pool and critique quality, but does not replace this mechanism.
- **Prompt-defined ideation and critique sub-agents**: Use prompt-shaped sub-agents with distinct framing methods for ideation and optional skeptical critique, rather than forcing reuse of existing named review agents whose purpose is different.
- **Orchestrator-owned synthesis and scoring**: The orchestrator merges and dedupes sub-agent outputs, applies one consistent rubric, and decides final scoring/ranking. Sub-agents may emit lightweight local signals, but not authoritative final rankings.
- **Artifact frontmatter**: `date`, `topic`, `focus` (optional). Minimal, paralleling the brainstorm `date` + `topic` pattern.
- **Volume override via natural language**: The skill instructions tell Claude to interpret number patterns in the argument ("top 3", "100 ideas") as volume overrides. No formal parsing.
- **Artifact timing**: Present survivors first, allow brief questions or lightweight clarification, then write/update the durable artifact before any handoff, Proof share, or session end.
- **No `disable-model-invocation`**: The skill should be auto-loadable when users say things like "what should I improve?", "give me ideas for this project", "ideate on improvements". Following the same pattern as ce:brainstorm.
- **Commit pattern**: Stage only `docs/ideation/<filename>`, use conventional format `docs: add ideation for <topic>`, offer but don't force.
- **Relationship to PR #277**: `ce:ideate` must follow the same Codex workflow model as the other canonical `ce:*` workflows. Why: without #277's prompt-wrapper and handoff-rewrite model, a copied workflow skill can still point at Claude-style slash handoffs that do not exist coherently in Codex. `ce:ideate` should be introduced as another canonical `ce:*` workflow on that same surface, not as a one-off pass-through skill.

## Open Questions

### Resolved During Planning

- **Which agents for codebase scan?** → `repo-research-analyst` + `learnings-researcher`. Rationale: same proven pattern as ce:plan, covers both current code and institutional knowledge.
- **Additional analysis fields per idea?** → Keep as specified in R6. "What this unlocks" bleeds into brainstorm scope. YAGNI.
- **Volume override detection?** → Natural language interpretation. The skill instructions describe how to detect overrides. No formal parsing needed.
- **Artifact frontmatter fields?** → `date`, `topic`, `focus` (optional). Follows brainstorm pattern.
- **Need references/ split?** → No. Estimated ~300 lines, under the 500-line threshold.
- **Need deprecated alias?** → No. `workflows:*` is deprecated; new skills go straight to `ce:*`.
- **How should docs regeneration be represented in the plan?** → The checked-in tree does not currently contain the previously assumed generated files (`docs/index.html`, `docs/pages/skills.html`). Treat `/release-docs` as a repo-maintenance validation step that may update tracked generated artifacts, not as a guaranteed edit to predetermined file paths.
- **How should skill counts be validated across artifacts?** → Do not force one unified count across every surface. The plugin manifests should reflect parser-discovered skill directories, while `plugins/compound-engineering/README.md` should preserve its human-facing taxonomy of workflow commands vs. standalone skills.
- **What is the dependency on PR #277?** → Treat #277 as an upstream prerequisite for Codex correctness. If it merges first, `ce:ideate` should slot into its canonical `ce:*` workflow model. If it does not merge first, equivalent Codex workflow behavior must be included before `ce:ideate` is considered complete.
- **How should agent intelligence be applied?** → Research agents are used for grounding, prompt-defined sub-agents are used to widen the candidate pool and critique it, and the orchestrator remains the final judge.
- **Who should score the ideas?** → The orchestrator, not the ideation sub-agents and not a separate scoring sub-agent by default.
- **When should the artifact be written?** → After the survivors are presented and reviewed enough to preserve, but always before handoff, sharing, or session end.

### Deferred to Implementation

- **Exact wording of the divergent ideation prompt section**: The plan specifies the structure and mechanisms, but the precise phrasing will be refined during implementation. This is an inherently iterative design element.
- **Exact wording of the self-critique instructions**: Same — structure is defined, exact prose is implementation-time.

## Implementation Units

- [x] **Unit 1: Create the ce:ideate SKILL.md**

**Goal:** Write the complete skill definition with all phases, the ideation prompt structure, optional sub-agent support, artifact template, and handoff options.

**Requirements:** R1-R25 (all requirements — this is the core deliverable)

**Dependencies:** None

**Files:**
- Create: `plugins/compound-engineering/skills/ce-ideate/SKILL.md`
- Test (conditional): `tests/claude-parser.test.ts`, `tests/cli.test.ts`

**Approach:**

- Keep this unit primarily content-only unless implementation discovers a real parser or packaging gap. `loadClaudePlugin()` already discovers any `skills/*/SKILL.md`, and most target converters/writers already pass `plugin.skills` through as `skillDirs`.
- Do not rely on pure pass-through for Codex. Because PR #277 gives compound-engineering `ce:*` workflows a canonical prompt-wrapper model in Codex, `ce:ideate` must be validated against that model and may require Codex-target updates if #277 is not already present.
- Treat artifact lifecycle rules as part of the skill contract, not polish: resume detection, present-before-write, refine-in-place, and brainstorm handoff state all live inside this SKILL.md and must be internally consistent.
- Keep the prompt sections grounded in Phase 1 findings so ideation quality does not collapse into generic product advice.
- Keep the user's original prompt mechanism as the backbone of the workflow. Extra agent structure should strengthen that mechanism rather than replacing it.
- When sub-agents are used, keep them prompt-defined and lightweight: shared grounding/focus/volume input, structured output, orchestrator-owned merge/dedupe/scoring.

The skill follows the ce:brainstorm phase structure but with fundamentally different phases:

```
Phase 0: Resume and Route
  0.1 Check docs/ideation/ for recent ideation docs (R13)
  0.2 Parse argument — extract focus hint and any volume override (R2, R9)
  0.3 If no argument, proceed with fully open ideation (no blocking ask)

Phase 1: Codebase Scan
  1.1 Dispatch research agents in parallel (R3):
      - Task compound-engineering:research:repo-research-analyst(focus context)
      - Task compound-engineering:research:learnings-researcher(focus context)
  1.2 Consolidate scan results into a codebase understanding summary

Phase 2: Divergent Generation (R4, R17-R21, R23-R24)
  Core ideation instructions tell Claude to:
  - Generate ~30 ideas (or override amount) as a numbered list
  - Each idea is a one-liner at this stage
  - Push past obvious suggestions — the first 10-15 will be safe/obvious,
    the interesting ones come after
  - Ground every idea in specific codebase findings from Phase 1
  - Ideas should span multiple dimensions where justified
  - If a focus area was provided, weight toward it but don't exclude
    other strong ideas
  - Preserve the user's original many-ideas-first mechanism
  Optional sub-agent support:
  - If the platform supports it, dispatch a small useful set of ideation
    sub-agents with the same grounding summary, focus hint, and volume target
  - Give each one a distinct prompt framing method (e.g. friction, unmet
    need, inversion, assumption-breaking, leverage, extreme case)
  - Require structured idea output so the orchestrator can merge and dedupe
  - Do not use sub-agents to replace the core ideation mechanism

Phase 3: Self-Critique and Filter (R5, R7, R20-R22)
  Critique instructions tell Claude to:
  - Go through each idea and evaluate it critically
  - For each rejection, write a one-line reason
  - Rejection criteria: not actionable, too vague, too expensive relative
    to value, already exists, duplicates another idea, not grounded in
    actual codebase state
  - Target: keep 5-7 survivors (or override amount)
  - If more than 7 pass scrutiny, do a second pass with higher bar
  - If fewer than 5 pass, note this honestly rather than lowering the bar
  Optional critique sub-agent support:
  - Skeptical sub-agents may attack the merged list from distinct angles
  - The orchestrator synthesizes critiques and owns final scoring/ranking

Phase 4: Present Results (R6, R7, R14)
  - Display ranked survivors with structured analysis per idea:
    title, description (2-3 sentences), rationale, downsides,
    confidence (0-100%), estimated complexity (low/medium/high)
  - Display rejection summary: collapsed section, one-line per rejected idea
  - Allow brief questions or lightweight clarification before archival write

Phase 5: Write Artifact (R8, R15, R16)
  - mkdir -p docs/ideation/
  - Write the ideation doc after survivors are reviewe

---

Source: [Claudary](https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/2026-03-15-001-feat-ce-ideate-skill-plan) · https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com