Idea Refine

Refines raw ideas into sharp, actionable concepts through structured divergent and convergent thinking.

You say
Buy it · $99 Read it before you buy $99 Written by addyosmani · unverified publisher
Context cost
9.9k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
5 files · 39.8 kB1 script among them — read before you run
Licence
MITpaid listing
Last change
no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Refines raw ideas into sharp, actionable concepts through structured divergent and convergent thinking. Use when an idea is still vague, when you need to stress-test assumptions before committing to a plan, or when you want to expand options before converging on one. Triggers on "ideate", "refine this idea", or "stress-test my plan".

Installed, it changes the agent in these ways.

What this skill changes about the agent is not written down here yet. The listing was collected from its source, and the description is in its own SKILL.md.

Output format

Produces one artefact, exactly shaped.

productivity

The skill itself

This is the whole product. A skill is instructions the model reads, so there is nothing behind the listing you cannot see first — the front matter loads with every session, and the body below it loads when the skill triggers.

SKILL.md8.1 kB · 179 lines
--- name: idea-refine description: Refines raw ideas into sharp, actionable concepts through structured divergent and convergent thinking. Use when an idea is still vague, when you need to stress-test assumptions before committing to a plan, or when you want to expand options before converging on one. Triggers on "ideate", "refine this idea", or "stress-test my plan". ---
6# Idea Refine
7
8Refines raw ideas into sharp, actionable concepts worth building through structured divergent and convergent thinking.
9
10## How It Works
11
121. **Understand & Expand (Divergent):** Restate the idea, ask sharpening questions, and generate variations.
132. **Evaluate & Converge:** Cluster ideas, stress-test them, and surface hidden assumptions.
143. **Sharpen & Ship:** Produce a concrete markdown one-pager moving work forward.
15
16## Usage
17
18This skill is primarily an interactive dialogue. Invoke it with an idea, and the agent will guide you through the process.
19
20```bash
21# Optional: Initialize the ideas directory
22bash skills/idea-refine/scripts/idea-refine.sh
23```
24
25**Trigger Phrases:**
26- "Help me refine this idea"
27- "Ideate on [concept]"
28- "Stress-test my plan"
29
30## Output
31
32The final output is a markdown one-pager saved to docs/ideas/[idea-name].md (after user confirmation), containing:
33- Problem Statement
34- Recommended Direction
35- Key Assumptions
36- MVP Scope
37- Not Doing list
38
39## Detailed Instructions
40
41You are an ideation partner. Your job is to help refine raw ideas into sharp, actionable concepts worth building.
42
43### Philosophy
44
45- Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Push toward the simplest version that still solves the real problem.
46- Start with the user experience, work backwards to technology.
47- Say no to 1,000 things. Focus beats breadth.
48- Challenge every assumption. "How it's usually done" is not a reason.
49- Show people the future — don't just give them better horses.
50- The parts you can't see should be as beautiful as the parts you can.
51
52### Process
53
54When the user invokes this skill with an idea ($ARGUMENTS), guide them through three phases. Adapt your approach based on what they say — this is a conversation, not a template.
55
56#### Phase 1: Understand & Expand (Divergent)
57
58**Goal:** Take the raw idea and open it up.
59
601. **Restate the idea** as a crisp "How Might We" problem statement. This forces clarity on what's actually being solved.
61
622. **Ask 3-5 sharpening questions** — no more. Focus on:
63 - Who is this for, specifically?
64 - What does success look like?
65 - What are the real constraints (time, tech, resources)?
66 - What's been tried before?
67 - Why now?
68
69 Use the AskUserQuestion tool to gather this input. Do NOT proceed until you understand who this is for and what success looks like.
70
713. **Generate 5-8 idea variations** using these lenses:
72 - **Inversion:** "What if we did the opposite?"
73 - **Constraint removal:** "What if budget/time/tech weren't factors?"
74 - **Audience shift:** "What if this were for [different user]?"
75 - **Combination:** "What if we merged this with [adjacent idea]?"
76 - **Simplification:** "What's the version that's 10x simpler?"
77 - **10x version:** "What would this look like at massive scale?"
78 - **Expert lens:** "What would [domain] experts find obvious that outsiders wouldn't?"
79
80 Push beyond what the user initially asked for. Create products people don't know they need yet.
81
82**If running inside a codebase:** Use Glob, Grep, and Read to scan for relevant context — existing architecture, patterns, constraints, prior art. Ground your variations in what actually exists. Reference specific files and patterns when relevant.
83
84Read frameworks.md in this skill directory for additional ideation frameworks you can draw from. Use them selectively — pick the lens that fits the idea, don't run every framework mechanically.
85
86#### Phase 2: Evaluate & Converge
87
88After the user reacts to Phase 1 (indicates which ideas resonate, pushes back, adds context), shift to convergent mode:
89
901. **Cluster** the ideas that resonated into 2-3 distinct directions. Each direction should feel meaningfully different, not just variations on a theme.
91
922. **Stress-test** each direction against three criteria:
93 - **User value:** Who benefits and how much? Is this a painkiller or a vitamin?
94 - **Feasibility:** What's the technical and resource cost? What's the hardest part?
95 - **Differentiation:** What makes this genuinely different? Would someone switch from their current solution?
96
97 Read refinement-criteria.md in this skill directory for the full evaluation rubric.
98
993. **Surface hidden assumptions.** For each direction, explicitly name:
100 - What you're betting is true (but haven't validated)
101 - What could kill this idea
102 - What you're choosing to ignore (and why that's okay for now)
103
104 This is where most ideation fails. Don't skip it.
105
106**Be honest, not supportive.** If an idea is weak, say so with kindness. A good ideation partner is not a yes-machine. Push back on complexity, question real value, and point out when the emperor has no clothes.
107
108#### Phase 3: Sharpen & Ship
109
110Produce a concrete artifact — a markdown one-pager that moves work forward:
111
112```markdown
113# [Idea Name]
114
115## Problem Statement
116[One-sentence "How Might We" framing]
117
118## Recommended Direction
119[The chosen direction and why — 2-3 paragraphs max]
120
121## Key Assumptions to Validate
122- [ ] [Assumption 1 — how to test it]
123- [ ] [Assumption 2 — how to test it]
124- [ ] [Assumption 3 — how to test it]
125
126## MVP Scope
127[The minimum version that tests the core assumption. What's in, what's out.]
128
129## Not Doing (and Why)
130- [Thing 1] — [reason]
131- [Thing 2] — [reason]
132- [Thing 3] — [reason]
133
134## Open Questions
135- [Question that needs answering before building]
136```
137
138**The "Not Doing" list is arguably the most valuable part.** Focus is about saying no to good ideas. Make the trade-offs explicit.
139
140Ask the user if they'd like to save this to docs/ideas/[idea-name].md (or a location of their choosing). Only save if they confirm.
141
142### Anti-patterns to Avoid
143
144- **Don't generate 20+ ideas.** Quality over quantity. 5-8 well-considered variations beat 20 shallow ones.
145- **Don't be a yes-machine.** Push back on weak ideas with specificity and kindness.
146- **Don't skip "who is this for."** Every good idea starts with a person and their problem.
147- **Don't produce a plan without surfacing assumptions.** Untested assumptions are the #1 killer of good ideas.
148- **Don't over-engineer the process.** Three phases, each doing one thing well. Resist adding steps.
149- **Don't just list ideas — tell a story.** Each variation should have a reason it exists, not just be a bullet point.
150- **Don't ignore the codebase.** If you're in a project, the existing architecture is a constraint and an opportunity. Use it.
151
152### Tone
153
154Direct, thoughtful, slightly provocative. You're a sharp thinking partner, not a facilitator reading from a script. Channel the energy of "that's interesting, but what if..." -- always pushing one step further without being exhausting.
155
156Read examples.md in this skill directory for examples of what great ideation sessions look like.
157
158## Red Flags
159
160- Generating 20+ shallow variations instead of 5-8 considered ones
161- Skipping the "who is this for" question
162- No assumptions surfaced before committing to a direction
163- Yes-machining weak ideas instead of pushing back with specificity
164- Producing a plan without a "Not Doing" list
165- Ignoring existing codebase constraints when ideating inside a project
166- Jumping straight to Phase 3 output without running Phases 1 and 2
167
168## Verification
169
170After completing an ideation session:
171
172- [ ] A clear "How Might We" problem statement exists
173- [ ] The target user and success criteria are defined
174- [ ] Multiple directions were explored, not just the first idea
175- [ ] Hidden assumptions are explicitly listed with validation strategies
176- [ ] A "Not Doing" list makes trade-offs explicit
177- [ ] The output is a concrete artifact (markdown one-pager), not just conversation
178- [ ] The user confirmed the final direction before any implementation work
179
In the file
SKILL.md1,278 words
Files5
LicenceMIT
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈90
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
9,860
on trigger
The instruction body and 4 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
5.0%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 50% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

9.9k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Heavy. Teams tend to install this one per project rather than globally, and load it only when the job comes up.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

Adoption
Installsnone yet
Ratingno reviews yet

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been published here. It is in the skill’s own SKILL.md, which its author has not sent to the marketplace yet.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

It writes no files and reaches no network. All it changes is how the model reasons and writes.

What it asks for
Writes filesno
Network accessno

Read from the allowed-tools line of this skill’s own SKILL.md. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

5 files, 39.8 kB on disk. Mostly text — the instructions the model reads — with 1 script in it that your client would run only if the instructions tell it to.

  • SKILL.md8.1 kB
  • examples.md20.3 kB
  • frameworks.md5.4 kB
  • refinement-criteria.md5.7 kB
  • scripts/idea-refine.sh0.3 kB
What is not in it

A skill installs nothing and depends on nothing: it is a folder your client reads. This one carries 1 script beside the text, so the bundle is 5 files you can review in full before installing. The MIT licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

$99 once
Idea Refine · MIT · addyosmani
one-time
Price$99 once
LicenceMIT — the author’s, unchanged by this purchase
Paid throughStripe, once, on the card you add at the checkout
Keeps workingfor good — the files are yours once they are on disk
Updatesevery update its author ships, delivered through this account

You can read the whole bundle before paying — the SKILL.md above is the product, not a preview of it. What the money buys is the delivery: the folder packaged and handed to your machine by key, every update its author ships, and our support if it does not do what this listing says. The terms of use are MIT, set by the author and unchanged by buying it here.

Payment runs through Stripe, on a page like this one rather than a redirect. Once there is an account it joins the same mcprush invoice as everything else you run, so there is never a second card to enter.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. A client with a skills folder reads it without being told; everywhere else the same text works, it is just handed to the model rather than found.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude Desktop
ChatGPT
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok.grok/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Windsurf.windsurf/skills/
Agent SDK.claude/skills/
HTTP / API
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
Price$99
Referenceaddyosmani/idea-refine

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

v
  • No earlier releases have been published to the marketplace.
Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

Reviews

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Who can post

Only accounts that have had the skill installed for fourteen days, so a review is written after living with it rather than after reading it. Publishers may reply once.

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