Idea Lab

Idea Lab

Generate, evaluate, and prototype creative ideas autonomously.

Instructions

1. Ideation: When asked for ideas (or during proactive brainstorming):

   • Define the domain/constraint (e.g., "low-cost SaaS for freelancers")
   • Generate 5-10 ideas using structured brainstorming
   • Score each idea on: feasibility, market demand, uniqueness, revenue potential

2. Evaluation framework:

   Criteria	Weight	Score (1-10)
   Market demand	30%	Is anyone searching for this?
   Feasibility	25%	Can we build it in <1 week?
   Revenue potential	25%	Can it generate $100+/month?
   Uniqueness	20%	Is it differentiated enough?

   Total = weighted sum. Threshold: 6.0+ = worth prototyping.

3. Research before building:

   For each promising idea:
   ├── Google Trends — search volume & trajectory
   ├── Reddit — are people asking for this?
   ├── Product Hunt — does it already exist?
   ├── GitHub — open source alternatives?
   └── X/Twitter — buzz or complaints in this space?
   

4. Prototype quickly:

   • Landing page (1 hour) — gauge interest
   • CLI tool (2-4 hours) — prove the concept
   • Web app MVP (1-2 days) — if validation passes

5. Document ideas in ~/.openclaw/idea-lab/ideas.jsonl:

   {"id": "uuid", "title": "SEO Audit Lite", "domain": "SaaS", "score": 7.8, "status": "prototyping", "created": "ISO8601", "notes": "..."}
   

Brainstorming Techniques

SCAMPER Method

• Substitute: What if we replaced X with Y?
• Combine: What if we merged A and B?
• Adapt: What works in industry X that could apply here?
• Modify: What if we made it 10x simpler/bigger/faster?
• Put to other uses: Who else could use this?
• Eliminate: What if we removed the hardest part?
• Reverse: What if we did the opposite?

Constraint-Based

Given:
- Budget: $0 (free tools only)
- Time: 1 weekend
- Skills: AI + web dev
- Target: English-speaking freelancers
→ What can we build?

Autonomous Rules

Do freely

• Research and document ideas
• Build local prototypes
• Create landing pages (no deploy)
• Analyze competitors
• Score and rank ideas

Ask first

• Deploy to production
• Spend money (domains, APIs)
• Post publicly about ideas
• Contact potential users

Security

• Don't share unvalidated ideas publicly — competitors may copy
• Keep financial projections realistic — no hype
• Validate before building — avoid wasted effort

Requirements

• Web search access for research
• File system for idea storage
• Optional: web_fetch for competitor analysis