Agent-Skills.md

Agent Skills: Idea to Design

Use when asked to turn an idea note into a design document, plan an idea, or make an idea real - autonomously researches the idea and produces Design.md, Decisions.md, and Research.md in an Ideas/<Idea Name>/ folder, asking zero questions

UncategorizedID: britt/claude-code-skills/idea-to-design

Repository

britt/claude-code-skills
brittLicense: MIT
4

Install this agent skill to your local

pnpm dlx add-skill https://github.com/britt/claude-code-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/idea-to-design

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skills/idea-to-design/SKILL.md

Skill Metadata

Name
idea-to-design
Description
Use when asked to turn an idea note into a design document, plan an idea, or make an idea real - autonomously researches the idea and produces Design.md, Decisions.md, and Research.md in an Ideas/<Idea Name>/ folder, asking zero questions

Idea to Design

Transform raw idea notes into comprehensive design documents autonomously.

Prerequisites/Context: Operates on an Obsidian vault (or any markdown folder) containing an Ideas/ folder; if no Ideas/ folder is found, ask the user for the vault path.

When to Use

Activate when asked to:

  • Turn an idea note into a design
  • Plan an idea or "make an idea real"

Not for features in an existing codebase — use writing-product-specs or a brainstorming skill instead.

Process

  1. Read the idea note - Understand what's being proposed
  2. Create folder - Inside the Ideas folder, create a subfolder named after the idea
  3. Move original - Move the original idea note into the new folder
  4. Research - Investigate unknowns, find relevant information, explore feasibility
  5. Write design doc - Answer: What is it? Who is it for? How does it work? Where is it deployed?
  6. Document decisions - Create explicit Decisions.md listing choices made and reasoning

Required Outputs

All files go in Ideas/<Idea Name>/:

| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | <Original>.md | The original idea note (moved here) | | Design.md | Comprehensive design document | | Decisions.md | Explicit list of decisions with reasoning | | Research.md | Sources consulted, findings, and references |

Autonomy

Ask zero questions. Make reasonable decisions and document them. If something is unclear:

  • State the assumption
  • Make a choice
  • Document it in Decisions.md

Design Doc Should Answer

  • Is it software, hardware, or a service?
  • Who is the target audience?
  • How will it work technically?
  • Where will it be deployed/run?
  • What's the business model (if applicable)?
  • What are the risks and mitigations?
  • What are the next steps?

Diagrams

Use Mermaid for all diagrams. Obsidian renders Mermaid natively.

  • Architecture diagrams: flowchart TB or flowchart LR
  • Sequences: sequenceDiagram
  • Data flow: flowchart with subgraphs
  • State machines: stateDiagram-v2

Never use ASCII art.

Research.md Should Include

  • Questions that needed answering
  • Sources consulted (web searches, docs, etc.)
  • Key findings that informed the design
  • Gaps that couldn't be filled

Decisions.md Format

# Decisions

## <Decision Title>
**Choice:** What was decided
**Alternatives:** What else was considered
**Reasoning:** Why this choice was made

Common Mistakes

  • Writing Design.md before Research.md: Research must inform the design — complete and record the research first, then write the design document based on its findings.