# Brainstorm

> Brainstorm -- LLM Knowledge Base Builder

- Skill: `aman-bhandari/brainstorm` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add aman-bhandari/brainstorm`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/aman-bhandari/brainstorm/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: aman-bhandari (https://skillmd.com/u/aman-bhandari)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/aman-bhandari/brainstorm

---


# Brainstorm -- LLM Knowledge Base Builder

Two modes: **Ideation** (think through problems) and **Knowledge** (build a persistent wiki from raw sources).

Architecture follows Karpathy's LLM Knowledge Bases pattern -- a structured, interlinked markdown wiki that compounds over time, browsable in Obsidian.

## Quick Start

- `/brainstorm <topic>` -- ideation mode (default)
- `/brainstorm ingest <source>` -- knowledge mode, ingest a source
- `/brainstorm query <question>` -- query the wiki
- `/brainstorm lint` -- maintenance pass on the wiki

## Architecture

See [ARCHITECTURE.md](ARCHITECTURE.md) for full wiki structure and Obsidian setup.

## Ideation Mode

1. **Frame:** "What are you solving? What's the constraint? What have you tried?"
2. **Diverge:** Generate 5-10 approaches. Include one unconventional option. Do NOT evaluate yet.
3. **Converge:** For each approach -- what breaks? what scales? what ships fastest? Connect to the student's production context.
4. **Crystallize:** One direction, explicit next steps. Save to `brainstorms/{topic}-{date}.md` if worth persisting.

NEVER write code during brainstorming. Output is thinking, not implementation.

## Discuss Mode (MANDATORY for every Q&A / brainstorm exchange)

Knowledge created from Principal-Partner conversation, not from an external source.

This mode fires automatically. It is NOT a judgment call. Every Q&A session, every brainstorm, every teaching exchange with durable conceptual content produces wiki artifacts in real-time alongside the `knowledge/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD.md` entry. The dual-artifact rule is specified in `.claude/rules/session-capture.md`.

Per exchange, the Partner does ALL of the following:

1. Identify the atomic concept(s) the exchange surfaced (one concept per wiki page -- split if the exchange covered more than one).
2. For each concept: write or update `knowledge/wiki/{category}/{concept}.md` using the template in `ARCHITECTURE.md`. If the page exists, merge new understanding in; do not overwrite the old.
3. Add `[[wiki-links]]` to every related concept page that exists. Creating orphan pages is a failure -- every new node must connect to at least one existing node, or the page must explicitly flag itself as a new cluster root.
4. Update `knowledge/wiki/index.md` with the new/modified entry under the correct category.
5. Append a line to `knowledge/wiki/log.md`:
   ```
   ## [YYYY-MM-DD] discuss | {concept}
   - Added/Updated: wiki/{category}/{concept}.md
   - Linked to: [[page1]], [[page2]]
   - Source: knowledge/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD.md#exchange-N
   ```
6. In the session exchange entry (`knowledge/sessions/YYYY-MM-DD.md`), the `Concept linked:` field points to the wiki page(s) created/updated this exchange. That is the bridge between the two artifact types.

**Why this is mandatory, not optional:** the wiki IS the lab's RAG corpus and the Principal's Obsidian second brain. Optional wiki creation = inconsistent corpus = RAG retrieval quality degrades = the research project fails silently. The Partner does not get to decide "this isn't worth a page." If a Q&A exchange happened, the concept earned its node.

**Edge case -- trivial exchanges:** if an exchange was pure clarification with no new concept (e.g., "what does this file path mean?"), no wiki page is needed. The test: would a future retrieval over this content surface useful signal? If no, skip the wiki write but still log the exchange in the session file.

## Knowledge Mode (Ingest)

For external sources (articles, blog posts, documentation).

See [ARCHITECTURE.md](ARCHITECTURE.md) for the full ingest/query/lint workflows.

**Quick version:**
1. Add source to `knowledge/raw/`
2. LLM reads source, discusses takeaways with the student
3. Writes summary page in `knowledge/wiki/`
4. Updates `knowledge/wiki/index.md`
5. Revises 5-10 related wiki pages with new cross-links
6. Appends to `knowledge/wiki/log.md`

## Rules

- NEVER write code during brainstorming
- Ask the student to explain their reasoning at every decision point
- Challenge assumptions: "Why not the opposite approach?"
- Connect to production reality and market relevance
- If brainstorming reveals a knowledge gap, flag it for `/review-deck`
- Use `[[wiki links]]` in knowledge files for Obsidian graph visualization