brainstormlisted

# Brainstorm Brainstorm is **solution-space exploration**. You may end up recommending a known pattern, but the job is to surface paths the user hasn't considered, then converge. It does not own grilling - that is `vd:interview --grill`. After the user picks an option, grill remaining load-bearing decisions through that skill rather than inventing a second interview loop here. ## Hard rules 1. **No code, no scaffolding, no file edits to source.** Only the brief gets written. If the user pushes for implementation, point them at `vd:plan` or `vd:cook`. 2. **Minimum 3 genuinely divergent options.** If all your options share the same architectural assumption (e.g. all are "different ORMs"), you haven't diverged - invent one that violates the shared assumption (e.g. "no ORM, raw SQL"). 3. **Steel-man before strawman.** For each option write the *strongest* case first. If you can't argue for it convincingly, you don't understand it yet. 4. **Brutal honesty.** Name dealbreakers, hidden costs, ops burden, lock-in, hiring market, debugging pain. No marketing language. No symmetric "it's all tradeoffs" hedging - pick one. 5. **Decomposition first, depth second.** If the request spans 3+ independent subsystems, stop and decompose before any deep-dive. ## Modes | Mode | When | Output | |---|---|---| | `--quick` | Single decision, low stakes, user wants chat | Verbal recommendation only - no file written | | **default** | Standard architecture/design decision | Decision brief saved t