https://github.com/winchxyz/idea-to-build
Turn a raw idea into a plan you can build. A multi-agent brainstorming methodology — isolated critique, fact-checking, and a build handoff to Claude Code.
https://github.com/winchxyz/idea-to-build
ai-agents brainstorming claude claude-code cowork-plugin mcp methodology multi-agent open-source prompt-engineering
Last synced: about 2 months ago
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Turn a raw idea into a plan you can build. A multi-agent brainstorming methodology — isolated critique, fact-checking, and a build handoff to Claude Code.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/winchxyz/idea-to-build
- Owner: winchxyz
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-05-29T16:48:20.000Z (2 months ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2026-06-03T20:49:21.000Z (about 2 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-06-04T04:11:43.360Z (about 2 months ago)
- Topics: ai-agents, brainstorming, claude, claude-code, cowork-plugin, mcp, methodology, multi-agent, open-source, prompt-engineering
- Language: Shell
- Size: 4.89 MB
- Stars: 3
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- Changelog: CHANGELOG.md
- Contributing: CONTRIBUTING.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# idea-to-build
**A multi-agent brainstorming methodology that takes a raw idea to a plan you can build — for founders, builders, and creators.**
Turn a raw idea into a plan you can actually build — in about 30 minutes. Claude sub-agents research it, argue with it, and won't let you skip the hard parts; when it's done, it hands the whole thing to Claude Code ready to build.
[](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
[](https://claude.com)
[](CONTRIBUTING.md)
[](CHANGELOG.md)
[Quick Start](#-quick-start) • [See It in Action](#-see-it-in-action) • [How It Works](#-how-it-works) • [Profiles](#-profiles) • [Why This](#-why-this-vs-alternatives) • [Contribute](CONTRIBUTING.md)
---
## The Problem
Brainstorming with an LLM is shallow — and it dead-ends. You get an enthusiastic wall of text, and then nothing you can actually build from.
Ask any LLM — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok — to brainstorm and you hit the same failure modes:
- ❌ Agreement, not pushback — it tells you why your idea is brilliant, not why it'll fail
- ❌ Fabricated market sizes and made-up statistics
- ❌ Generic SWOT lists that fit any business
- ❌ "5 great ideas!" — none of which are actually different
- ❌ No memory across sessions — you re-explain context every time
- ❌ And even a *good* brainstorm ends in a chat you have to translate into a plan, then into a build, by hand
This tool fixes those — and closes the loop to a build. The full version runs on Claude (Cowork, Claude Code, or the Claude CLI); a degraded standalone prompt (`distributions/standalone-prompts/lite.md`) works in any other LLM.
## The Solution
**A structured 6-phase brainstorm that takes a raw idea all the way to something you can build.** Understand → Context → Generate → Deep Dive → Critique → Plan — each phase does the work most chats skip: real research with sources, genuinely different options, a ruthless critique that won't let you skip the premortem, and a plan with go/no-go gates.
Then the part that makes it *idea-to-build*: when the brainstorm is done, **`/scaffold` turns the whole thing into a folder you open in Claude Code and build from** — the chosen approach, the paths you rejected, the risks to watch, the gates. Idea in, buildable plan out.
> "It found a flaw in my pivot that I'd been missing for three weeks." — early tester
---
## 👀 See It in Action
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7fa999e7-d4d8-4d67-b39e-ac2698c52ca6
Real sessions, each linked in full — strongest first. Most put one prompt through a normal chat vs. the methodology, side by side; one runs a single idea through all six profiles; the first is a complete start-to-finish run that ends in a buildable plan:
- [**Full run: medieval tycoon game**](examples/medieval-tycoon-fullrun.md) — the whole method, Phase 1 → 6 → `/scaffold`. A vague "tycoon game" comes out scoped, critiqued (GO with conditions), planned with a kill-switch, and handed off as a buildable folder. **Start here — it's the idea→build arc end to end.**
- [**Hyperliquid wallet**](examples/hyperliquid-wallet-comparison.md) — the deepest comparison: the full method through a trace-verified isolated Phase-5 critique. Read this to see the rigor.
- [**Personal health AI**](examples/health-system-comparison.md) — the harder case: plain Claude was already competent, and the methodology still added strategy (beachhead, regulatory risk, an architectural blocker).
- [**Profiles in action**](examples/profiles-comparison.md) — the *same* idea run through six profiles, showing how each asks different questions. Proof the profiles aren't cosmetic.
- [**Food delivery app**](examples/food-delivery-comparison.md) — the "can it say no?" test (trace-verified): the cold critic returns NO-GO on the head-on idea, then GO-with-conditions on the pivot.
- [**AI support agent**](examples/ai-support-agent-comparison.md) — another honest NO-GO: the methodology pushes back and recommends *not* building the idea.
- [**Stickman game**](examples/stickman-comparison.md) — the simplest contrast: plain Claude builds instantly, the methodology stops to scope. A quick way to see the difference.
---
## 🚀 Quick Start
Four install paths — all available.
### ✅ Option 1: Plugin via marketplace — Claude CLI (terminal)
In a terminal, run `claude`, then:
```bash
/plugin marketplace add winchxyz/idea-to-build
/plugin install idea-to-build@idea-to-build
```
Then `/idea-to-build:start` to activate the coordinator. All ten commands are namespaced `/idea-to-build:*` (e.g. `/idea-to-build:critique`, `/idea-to-build:scaffold`). The `/plugin …` commands run in the Claude CLI; once installed, the `/idea-to-build:*` commands work in your CLI sessions. Verified working.
### ✅ Option 2: Plugin via marketplace — Cowork / Claude Code (desktop app)
In the Claude desktop app (Cowork or Claude Code — one shared environment): **Customize → Personal plugins → `+` → Create plugin → Add marketplace**, enter `winchxyz/idea-to-build`, hit **Sync**, install the plugin, then run `/idea-to-build:start`. Once installed this way, the `/idea-to-build:*` commands work across both Cowork and Claude Code.
> **If Cowork's marketplace lags or won't update** — a known Cowork plugin-update bug where the *Update* button stays greyed out and re-adding reuses a stale cache — install it manually instead: download **`idea-to-build-plugin.zip`** from the [latest release](https://github.com/winchxyz/idea-to-build/releases/latest), then **Customize → Personal plugins → `+` → Create plugin → Upload plugin** and pick the zip. It lands under **My Uploads** and works identically.
### ✅ Option 3: Clone the repo (open in the desktop app or the Claude CLI)
```bash
git clone https://github.com/winchxyz/idea-to-build.git
```
Open the cloned folder. The root [`CLAUDE.md`](CLAUDE.md) bootstraps the coordinator automatically (no `/start` needed); the repo's `.claude/skills/` provide the `/`-commands in Claude Code and the Claude CLI.
### ✅ Option 4: Standalone prompt — any LLM
Copy [`distributions/standalone-prompts/lite.md`](distributions/standalone-prompts/lite.md) into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any chat. Degraded quality (no sub-agent isolation, no cross-session memory, no `/scaffold`), but zero setup.
---
## 🧩 How It Works
A coordinator guides you through six phases — and won't let you skip the ones that hurt. The critique phase is a ruthless, structured pass (forced premortem, steelman, inversion, a real verdict); the planning phase produces a gated plan with a kill-switch. When the plan is done, a scaffolder turns the whole brainstorm into a folder Claude Code can build from.
```
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Coordinator (you talk to) │
│ │
│ Phase 1 ─ Understanding "What are you actually trying to │
│ accomplish?" │
│ Phase 2 ─ Context 🔍 Research Agent (optional) │
│ Phase 3 ─ Generation 💡 Ideation Agent (optional) │
│ Phase 4 ─ Deep Dive 🔬 Deep-Dive Agent (optional) │
│ Phase 5 ─ Critique ⚔️ In-context, adversarial │
│ Sees: everything — stays harsh │
│ Forced: premortem + steelman │
│ Phase 6 ─ Plan 📋 Planner Sub-Agent ◄── isolated │
│ Sees: choice + critique │
│ Forced: actionable steps + gates │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ /scaffold ───────────────▶ 📦 Scaffolder → buildable folder │
│ (CLAUDE.md · README · DECISIONS · │
│ PLAN) → open in Claude Code, build │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
**Why this works:** Most "brainstorms" fail because the model skips the hard parts and then leaves you with a transcript. idea-to-build forces the hard parts — a structured premortem and steelman you can't skip, fact-checking with confidence labels, and a verdict that's allowed to be NO-GO — then hands the result to a build via `/scaffold`. The forced structure is the lever; the build handoff is the point.
---
## 📚 Profiles
idea-to-build ships with **6 modes**: one general-purpose base plus five domain specializations.
| Profile | When to use | Key tools |
|---------|-------------|-----------|
| 🎯 [General](profiles/general.md) | Any idea, any domain (calibrates to nature) | Full 6-phase framework |
| 🚀 [Startup](profiles/startup.md) | Founder ideating a product/business | Unit economics, GTM, JTBD, Beachhead |
| 🛠️ [Personal Project](profiles/personal-project.md) | A tool/app/game you're building for yourself | Build-vs-reuse, MVP, YAGNI, abandonment premortem |
| 🔭 [Exploration](profiles/exploration.md) | Thinking a topic through; no build intended | First-principles, steelman, second-order effects |
| ⚙️ [Tech Architecture](profiles/tech-architecture.md) | System design, stack choices | Trade-off matrices, RFC structure |
| 🎬 [Content Strategy](profiles/content-strategy.md) | Channel, niche, monetization | Audience-fit, virality patterns, RPM |
| 🗺️ [Product Roadmap](profiles/product-roadmap.md) | Feature prioritization, GTM | ICE/RICE, Kano, North Star Metric |
| 🧭 [Personal Decisions](profiles/personal-decisions.md) | Career moves, life transitions | Reversibility, Expected Value, Inversion |
A preset is chosen at the start of every session (or auto-classified from your description); it sets the lens **and** the flow shape — which phases run full, light, or skipped. Profiles override defaults inside each phase. Switch any time with `/profile startup` — a real slash command in Claude Code and the Claude CLI; in Cowork, just say it in plain language ("switch to the startup profile"). See six compared on one idea: [`profiles-comparison.md`](examples/profiles-comparison.md).
---
## 🆚 Why This vs Alternatives
| | Raw ChatGPT/Claude | Awesome-prompts repo | LangChain/CrewAI build | **idea-to-build** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 0 sec | 30 sec | 30+ min | ✅ 60 sec |
| Forced critique | ❌ | ⚠️ Often skipped | ✅ if coded | ✅ Hard-gated |
| Fact-checking discipline | ❌ Hallucinates | ❌ No enforcement | ⚠️ DIY | ✅ Tier 1/2/3 protocol |
| Cross-session memory | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ if coded | ✅ Context files |
| Isolated planner | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ if coded | ✅ Fresh-context sub-agent |
| Domain profiles | ❌ One-size | ❌ | ⚠️ DIY | ✅ 8 ready + auto-preset |
| Ends in a buildable plan | ❌ Just a chat | ❌ | ⚠️ DIY | ✅ `/scaffold` → folder Claude Code builds |
| Cost per brainstorm | Free–$1 | Free | $$ (LLM API) | Free (your Claude subscription) |
More questions — *is it really multi-agent? could a prompt do this? does it actually say no?* — see the [**FAQ**](docs/FAQ.md).
---
## 🎯 Core Principles
1. **Skeptical by default.** Every claim — yours, the user's, the source's — is a hypothesis to be tested. Accuracy over confidence, clarity over speed, evidence over assumption. When uncertain, the tool tells you exactly what would verify the claim.
2. **Phase-explicit communication.** Coordinator announces the current phase in every message. No silent transitions.
3. **Factual rigor (Tier 1/2/3).** Made-up numbers are a sin. Each material claim gets a ✅ / ⚠️ / 🔍 confidence label.
4. **Calibrated recommendations.** Every recommendation includes a confidence percentage, what would raise/lower it, and an alternative if confidence drops. No false certainty.
5. **Forced critique.** Phase 5 cannot be skipped. Premortem + What-Needs-to-Be-True are mandatory.
6. **Adversarial critique.** A dedicated critic pass forced to premortem, steelman, and invert — built to find the flaw you're too attached to see, and to return an honest GO / NO-GO.
7. **Memory as a log, not state.** Decisions and rejected options are appended, never overwritten. History matters.
8. **Ends in a build, not just a brainstorm.** The point isn't a tidy writeup — it's a scoped, critiqued plan you can act on. `/scaffold` turns the finished brainstorm into a folder Claude Code builds from.
Full methodology: [`docs/METHODOLOGY.md`](docs/METHODOLOGY.md)
---
## 🏗️ Architecture
```
idea-to-build/
├── CLAUDE.md # Entry point — auto-activates the coordinator
├── .claude/skills/ # Slash commands for Claude Code and the Claude CLI (/profile, /critique…)
├── .claude-plugin/ # Marketplace manifest (Add marketplace / /plugin install)
├── core/
│ ├── CLAUDE.md # Full coordinator specification
│ ├── agents/ # 6 agents: research, ideation, deep-dive, critic, planner, scaffolder
│ ├── skills/ # Recommendation + confidence module
│ └── templates/ # Project context file template
├── profiles/ # 8 domain profiles (general + 7 specialized)
├── distributions/
│ ├── claude-code-plugin/ # Installable plugin — 10 commands + 6 agents (Cowork / Claude CLI)
│ └── standalone-prompts/ # Lite version for any LLM
├── docs/
│ ├── ARCHITECTURE.md # How sub-agents are orchestrated
│ ├── METHODOLOGY.md # Core principles in depth
│ ├── PHASES.md # 6 phases explained
│ ├── PROFILES.md # Profile authoring guide
│ └── FAQ.md # Common questions, answered honestly
└── examples/ # Template, guide + real comparison transcripts
```
> The `examples/` directory ships with a template, an authoring guide, and seven real transcripts — five run the same prompt as plain Claude vs. through the methodology: a stickman game, a personal-health-AI startup, a Hyperliquid wallet (full methodology through a trace-verified Phase 5 critique → NO-GO), an AI support agent, and a food-delivery app (where the Phase 5 critique returns NO-GO on the head-on idea, then GO-with-conditions on the pivot) — plus a profiles comparison (one idea, six profiles) and a full start-to-finish run that ends in a buildable plan. A broader library lands in v0.2. See [`CHANGELOG.md`](CHANGELOG.md).
Full architecture: [`docs/ARCHITECTURE.md`](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md)
---
## 🤝 Contributing
We welcome:
- 🆕 New profiles for specific domains (legal, healthcare, education, climate, etc.)
- 🛠️ Improvements to sub-agent prompts
- 📖 Real-world brainstorm transcripts for `examples/`
- 🌍 Translations (currently English-first; methodology language-agnostic)
- 🐛 Bug reports and edge cases
See [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](CONTRIBUTING.md).
---
## 📜 License
MIT — see [`LICENSE`](LICENSE). Use it, fork it, ship it commercially. Just don't sue us if your brainstorm convinces you to do something dumb.
---
## ⭐ Star History
If `idea-to-build` helped you avoid a bad decision (or commit to a good one), a star makes our day.
[](https://star-history.com/#winchxyz/idea-to-build&Date)
---
Built with 🧠 by people who got tired of LLMs agreeing with them.