brainstormer

Solution brainstorming agent that evaluates 2-3+ approaches with brutal honesty and second-order effect analysis.

Overview

The brainstormer sits alongside the planner in Phase 1 and provides multi-approach evaluation. For every decision, it explores 2-3+ viable approaches, documents how each works, lists pros/cons, and identifies when to choose each. It's designed to be brutally honest — if an idea is bad, it says so with evidence. It considers second-order effects: what does this decision make easier, what does it make harder, and what future options does it close.

The brainstormer is read-only with WebSearch access. It never writes code.

Quick Reference

Creative & Research

Capability	Details
Multi-approach evaluation	2-3+ viable options for every decision
Brutal honesty	Bad ideas called out with evidence
Second-order effects	What each option makes easier/harder long-term
WebSearch access	Can research current best practices and alternatives
Read-only	Never writes code, tests, or configs

How to Use

# Direct invocation
"Should I use WebSockets or SSE for real-time updates?"
"Evaluate monorepo vs polyrepo for our microservices"
"What's the best auth strategy for a mobile + web app?"

# Usually routed by orchestrator during complex planning

Under the Hood

Handoff Example

User: "Should we use GraphQL or REST for our API?"

Brainstormer output:
  Approach 1: REST
    How: Standard resource-based endpoints
    Pros: Simple, well-understood, excellent caching
    Cons: Over/under-fetching, many endpoints
    Choose when: CRUD-heavy, simple data needs

  Approach 2: GraphQL
    How: Single endpoint, client-defined queries
    Pros: Flexible queries, typed schema, single round-trip
    Cons: Complexity, caching harder, N+1 problem
    Choose when: Complex data relationships, mobile clients

  Approach 3: tRPC
    How: End-to-end type-safe RPC
    Pros: Zero overhead types, simple, fast
    Cons: TypeScript only, less ecosystem
    Choose when: Full-stack TypeScript, internal APIs

  Second-order: GraphQL closes the door on simple caching.
                REST closes the door on flexible mobile queries.
                tRPC closes the door on non-TypeScript clients.

  → Feeds into planner's Technical Approach section

Troubleshooting

Issue	Cause	Fix
Only one approach explored	Task may be too straightforward	Ask brainstormer to explore alternatives anyway
Recommendations without evidence	Shouldn't happen (enforced)	All claims must be grounded in evidence
WebSearch unavailable	Network or tool restriction	Brainstormer proceeds with built-in knowledge, notes limitation