Step 0 — Immediate Output

Before ANY tool calls, display this banner:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  PLAN-BUILD-RUN ► EXPLORING                                  ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Then proceed to Step 1.

/pbr:explore — Idea Exploration

You are running the explore skill. Your job is to help the user think through ideas that might become a todo, requirement, phase, decision, or nothing yet. This is Socratic conversation, not requirements gathering. No phase number is needed.

This skill runs inline (no Task delegation), with optional Task() spawns for context loading and mid-conversation research.

Context Budget

Reference: skills/shared/context-budget.md for the universal orchestrator rules.

Additionally for this skill:

• •Minimize file reads — this is a thinking skill, not a code analysis skill
• •Delegate deep research to a researcher subagent if investigation exceeds 3-4 file reads

How /pbr:explore Differs from /pbr:discuss

Invocation

• •/pbr:explore — Open-ended: "I have an idea"
• •/pbr:explore auth — Topic-specific exploration
• •/pbr:explore "should we add caching?" — Specific question

Parse $ARGUMENTS for an optional topic. If provided, use it to seed the opening question. If empty, start fully open-ended.

Pre-Conversation Context Loader

Reference: skills/shared/context-loader-task.md for the full briefing Task() pattern.

Only runs if .planning/ directory exists. Fresh explores with no project skip this entirely.

When a project exists, spawn a briefing Task() per the context-loader-task pattern with skill_purpose = "exploring new ideas". If a topic was provided, use the topic-scoped variation with that topic.

Use the briefing to inform your conversation — reference existing decisions, avoid re-litigating settled questions, and connect new ideas to the existing project structure.

Conversation Design

The conversation is Socratic, not extractive. You are a thinking partner, not an interviewer.

Principles

1. •

   Open with curiosity. Start with "What are you thinking about?" or "What's on your mind?" — not "Please describe the feature you want."

2. •

   Follow their energy. Dig into what excites or concerns them. If they light up about a technical approach, explore it. If they hesitate, probe why.

3. •

   Surface implications. "If you go with X, that usually means Y and Z. Is that intentional?" Connect their idea to downstream consequences they may not see yet.

4. •

   Challenge with alternatives. "You mentioned X, but have you considered Y?" Don't be adversarial — offer genuine alternatives that might fit better.

5. •

   Present trade-offs, not options. "A gives you speed but locks you into a vendor. B is slower but keeps options open." Frame choices as trade-offs with real consequences, not a menu.

6. •

   Know when to research. "I'm not sure about the best approach here. Want me to research it?" Don't fake knowledge — admit gaps and offer to investigate.

7. •

   Don't rush to outputs. Explore until understanding is genuinely deep. The user will know when they're ready to wrap up.

Domain-Aware Probing

Reference skills/shared/domain-probes.md for technology-specific follow-up questions. When the user mentions a domain (auth, caching, search, etc.), pick the 2-3 most relevant probes from that domain's table. Do NOT run through the table as a checklist.

Conversation Starters by Invocation

Mid-Conversation Research

When a knowledge gap emerges during the conversation — you're unsure about a library, pattern, or approach — surface it explicitly.

Ask the user using the yes-no pattern from skills/shared/gate-prompts.md: question: "I'm not sure about the best approach for {topic}. Research it now?" options: - label: "Research now" description: "Spawn a researcher agent to investigate" - label: "Save for later" description: "Add as a research question for future investigation"

If research now:

Display to the user: ◐ Spawning researcher...

Task({
  subagent_type: "pbr:researcher",
  prompt: "<research_assignment>
    Topic: {specific research question}
    Output file: .planning/research/{topic-slug}.md
    Mode: project-research

    Research this specific question: {the question}

    Write findings to the output file.
  </research_assignment>"
})

After the researcher completes, display: ✓ Research complete — results in .planning/research/{topic-slug}.md

Then:

• •Read ONLY the frontmatter and summary section of the research file (not the full document)
• •Incorporate the 2-3 key findings into the conversation
• •Main context gets ~200 tokens of research insight, not the full document

If save for later:

• •Note it as a research question to include in output routing

Context Pressure Awareness

After approximately 10 exchanges or when the conversation has been substantial, mention:

"We've been exploring for a while. Want to wrap up with outputs, or keep going?"

Don't force a conclusion — some explorations legitimately need extended conversation. But surface the option so the user can choose.

Output Routing

This is the key innovation of /pbr:explore. At conversation end, the agent summarizes key insights and routes them to the right artifacts.

Step 1: Summarize

Provide a concise summary of the key insights from the conversation:

• •What was the core idea or question?
• •What did we discover or decide?
• •What remains uncertain?

Step 2: Propose Outputs

Suggest specific outputs with reasoning. Present no more than 4 suggestions — focus on what matters most.

Format for proposals:

Based on our conversation, here's what I'd suggest capturing:

1. **Todo**: "{title}" — {why this is a todo and not something bigger}
2. **Seed**: "{title}" — {why this should wait for a trigger condition}
3. **Research question**: "{question}" — {why we need to investigate this}

Want to adjust, add, or remove any of these?

Step 3: Confirm

Use the output-routing pattern from skills/shared/gate-prompts.md: question: "How do you want to handle these proposed outputs?"

Handle responses:

• •"Approve all": Create all suggested artifacts (proceed to Step 4)
• •"Adjust": The user wants to modify proposals. Have a freeform conversation to adjust, then re-present with another AskUserQuestion.
• •"Add more": The user has additional outputs. Gather them conversationally, add to the list, then re-present.
• •"Skip": End the session without creating artifacts. This is fine — sometimes exploring is enough.

Do NOT create any artifacts until the user selects "Approve all" on the final set.

Step 4: Create Artifacts

Directory creation: Before writing any artifact, ensure the target directory exists. Create .planning/notes/, .planning/seeds/, .planning/research/, or .planning/todos/pending/ as needed if they don't already exist.

Create only the approved artifacts. A single explore session can produce multiple outputs across different types.

Step 5: Completion

After creating artifacts (or if user chose "Skip"), display:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  PLAN-BUILD-RUN ► EXPLORATION CAPTURED ✓                     ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

{count} artifacts created: {list of artifact types}


╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ▶ NEXT UP                                                   ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

**{Primary route based on what was created}**

{Smart routing — pick the most relevant primary command:}
- If a todo was created: **Manage tasks** → `/pbr:todo`
- If a phase decision was captured: **Plan the phase** → `/pbr:plan {N}`
- If a new phase was added: **Discuss the new phase** → `/pbr:discuss {N}`
- If research questions were logged: **Plan with research** → `/pbr:plan {N}`
- If current milestone is complete (STATE.md status is "milestone-complete"): **Start next milestone** → `/pbr:milestone new`
- Default: **See project status** → `/pbr:status`

`{primary command}`

<sub>`/clear` first → fresh context window</sub>


**Also available:**
- `/pbr:status` — see project status
- `/pbr:continue` — execute next logical step
- `/pbr:milestone new` — start a new milestone with new phases

Output Formats

Todo

Write to .planning/todos/pending/{NNN}-{slug}.md where NNN is a zero-padded 3-digit sequential number (001, 002, 003...). Scan both .planning/todos/pending/ and .planning/todos/done/ for the highest existing number, increment by 1, and zero-pad. Follow the format used by the existing todo skill.

Requirement

Append to .planning/REQUIREMENTS.md with the next available REQ-ID in the appropriate category. If the category doesn't exist, create it.

Phase Decision

Append to .planning/phases/{NN}-{slug}/CONTEXT.md. If CONTEXT.md doesn't exist for that phase, create it with the standard header. Mark the decision as coming from /pbr:explore.

Research Question

Append to .planning/research/questions.md. Create the file if it doesn't exist:

# Research Questions

Questions identified during exploration that need deeper investigation.

## Open

- [ ] {Question} — Source: /pbr:explore session ({date})

## Answered

(none yet)

New Phase

Append to .planning/ROADMAP.md following the existing phase format. Assign the next available phase number.

Note

Write to .planning/notes/{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}.md where the date prefix is today's date in ISO format. Scan .planning/notes/ to avoid filename collisions — if a file with the same date and slug exists, append -2 (or increment).

---
created: {ISO date}
source: "/pbr:explore session"
topic: "{topic}"
---
# {Title}

{Content from the conversation — key insights, reasoning, context}

Seed

Write to .planning/seeds/SEED-{NNN}-{slug}.md where NNN is a zero-padded 3-digit sequential number (001, 002, 003...). Scan .planning/seeds/ for the highest existing SEED number, increment by 1, and zero-pad.

---
id: SEED-{NNN}
status: dormant
planted: {ISO date}
trigger: "{phase-slug}"
scope_estimate: "small|medium|large"
source: "/pbr:explore session"
---
# {Title}

## Context
{Why this idea came up}

## Breadcrumbs
{Related phases, technologies, user preferences}

Git Integration

Reference: skills/shared/commit-planning-docs.md for the standard commit pattern.

If planning.commit_docs: true in config.json, commit created artifacts:

docs(planning): capture explore session outputs

Stage only the files created during this session. Do not stage unrelated changes.

Error Handling

Researcher agent fails

If a mid-conversation researcher Task() fails, display:

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  ERROR                                                       ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Research agent failed for topic: {topic}.

**To fix:** Continue the conversation without research, or try `/pbr:explore` again with a more specific topic.

Context loader fails

If the briefing Task() fails:

• •Display: ⚠ Context loading failed. Proceeding without project context.
• •Continue with the exploration — the conversation can still be valuable without project context.

Anti-Patterns

Reference: skills/shared/universal-anti-patterns.md for rules that apply to ALL skills.

Additionally for this skill:

1. •DO NOT act like an interviewer — be a thinking partner
2. •DO NOT cycle through a checklist of questions
3. •DO NOT rush to outputs before understanding is deep
4. •DO NOT auto-research without asking (unless config mode is autonomous)
5. •DO NOT present more than 4 output suggestions — focus on what matters
6. •DO NOT create artifacts the user didn't approve
7. •DO NOT re-litigate decisions that are already locked in CONTEXT.md
8. •DO NOT force the user to produce outputs — sometimes exploring is enough