Idea Task

Interactive skill that turns a rough idea into a validated concept draft before formalizing it into an implementation-ready task. Identifies risks, technical debt, and compliance.

Sby Skills Guide Bot
DevelopmentIntermediate
708/21/2026
Codex
#idea-shaping#task-decomposition#architecture-review#risk-analysis#technical-debt

Recommended for


name: idea-task description: Interactive idea shaping skill that turns a rough idea into a validated concept draft before prepare-task formalizes it into a Ready implementation task. Use when the user asks for early brainstorming, architecture/risk review, task decomposition, technical debt discovery, or asks questions such as '/idea-task [description]'.

Idea Task

Purpose

Use this skill before prepare-task when an idea is still ambiguous.

idea-task does discovery and risk shaping. prepare-task does implementation-ready formalization and GitHub project readiness.

Invocation

  • $idea-task
  • /idea-task [description]
  • /idea-task -url "https://example.com/tasks/<id>"
  • I have an idea, help me shape it first

Works in VS Code, Codex Web, and Codex Desktop repository chat.

Workflow

  1. Determine source: free-text idea or -url existing issue/task, then restate the idea in one paragraph.
  2. Review repository context relevant to the idea.
  3. Read the project profile and run an applicability pre-check for privacy, AI, security, safety, accessibility, and sector governance before suggesting implementation details.
  4. Ask up to three focused questions at a time.
  5. Maintain an Open Questions list and close items as answered.
  6. Produce an Idea Draft with:
    • problem and outcome
    • in-scope/out-of-scope
    • likely modules/files
    • risks and technical debt hotspots
    • observability, logging, and rollback expectations
    • compliance notes
  7. Classify the next route:
    • ordinary/local change: $prepare-task
    • new or changed user/business behavior: $generate-use-case
    • material business choice: $generate-bdr
    • cross-component, data-flow, deployment, or quality-attribute change: $architecture-change
  8. Decide status:
    • Ready for prepare-task
    • Blocked (with reasons)
  9. Emit exact marker line for downstream automations:
    • Idea Task Status: Ready for prepare-task. when ready.
  10. If ready, recommend the classified next route instead of always defaulting to $prepare-task.

Question Priorities

Ask only what is needed to remove ambiguity:

  • user outcome and success metric
  • impacted channels (API, chat simulator, mobile, web)
  • data classes, retention/deletion, consent/transparency
  • external API dependencies and fallback behavior
  • acceptance test shape and release constraints

Output Template

Use references/idea-draft-template.md.

Guardrails

  • Do not start code implementation in this skill.
  • Stop and surface compliant alternatives when the proposal conflicts with applicable governance requirements.
  • Keep answers concise, concrete, and directly actionable by prepare-task.
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