Skill: Brain Dump

Purpose

Convert a chaotic list of scattered ideas, notes, or thoughts into a structured, prioritized action plan. Transforms raw cognitive output into organized tasks with clear next steps.

When to Use

• You have a messy list of ideas and need structure
• Starting a new project and need to organize your thinking
• After a brainstorming session that needs to be actionable
• When feeling overwhelmed by too many loose threads

Instructions

Step 1: Capture Everything

Ask the user to dump all their thoughts without filtering. Accept bullet points, sentences, fragments — anything goes.

Step 2: Categorize

Group the raw input into logical buckets:

• Now — urgent or blocking items
• Soon — important but not immediate
• Later — good ideas to revisit
• Discard — noise or duplicates

Step 3: Structure Each Item

For each retained item, define:

• A clear action title (verb + object, e.g., "Write onboarding doc")
• The outcome if completed
• Any dependencies on other items
• Estimated effort (S/M/L)

Step 4: Produce the Plan

Output a structured markdown document:

## Action Plan — [Date]

### 🔴 Now
- [ ] [Action] — [Why urgent] (Effort: S/M/L)

### 🟡 Soon
- [ ] [Action] — [Outcome] (Effort: S/M/L)

### 🟢 Later
- [ ] [Action] — [Outcome] (Effort: S/M/L)

### 🗑️ Discarded
- [Item] — [Reason discarded]

Step 5: Confirm & Save

Ask the user to confirm the plan. If working inside the repo, offer to save to docs/plans/brain-dump-YYYY-MM-DD.md.

Example Prompt to Trigger

/brain-dump
Here's everything on my mind: [paste messy notes]

Output Format

• Structured markdown action plan
• Grouped by priority tier
• Each item has effort estimate and outcome
• Discarded items documented with reason

Notes

• Don't judge the quality of the input — organize it as-is
• Keep action titles under 10 words
• If an item is vague, flag it with a ❓ and ask a clarifying question
• Cross-link items that depend on each other