ID8SCOUT - Validation Engine

Purpose

Transform raw ideas into validated (or invalidated) opportunities through systematic research. Every idea deserves rigorous testing before building.

Output: Validation Report with BUILD / PIVOT / KILL verdict

When to Use

• •User has a new business/product idea to evaluate
• •User asks "should I build X?"
• •User wants market research on a concept
• •User needs competitive analysis
• •User wants to understand if there's demand
• •Project is in CAPTURED or VALIDATING state

Commands

/scout <idea-description>

Run full validation on an idea.

Process:

1. •INTAKE - Clarify the idea
2. •MARKET - Size the opportunity
3. •COMPETITION - Map the landscape
4. •COMMUNITY - Mine real signals
5. •CALIBRATE - Adjust for solo builder
6. •SYNTHESIZE - Render verdict

/scout market <topic>

Run only market analysis.

/scout competitors <product/space>

Run only competitive analysis.

/scout signals <topic>

Run only community signal mining.

Validation Process

Phase 1: INTAKE (2-3 minutes)

Clarify the idea before researching.

Questions to answer:

1. •What is it? - One sentence description
2. •Who is it for? - Specific target user
3. •What problem does it solve? - Pain point or desire
4. •How is it different? - Why not use existing solutions?
5. •What's the hypothesis? - What are we betting on?

If project exists in tracker:

• •Load from project card
• •Use existing one-liner and context

If new idea:

• •Prompt for clarification
• •Suggest creating project: /tracker new

Phase 2: MARKET (5-10 minutes)

Size the opportunity and understand trends.

Use: mcp__perplexity__search and mcp__perplexity__reason

Research areas:

1. •

   TAM/SAM/SOM

   • •Total Addressable Market - Everyone who could use this
   • •Serviceable Addressable Market - Those you can reach
   • •Serviceable Obtainable Market - Realistic capture
2. •

   Market Trends

   • •Is this market growing or shrinking?
   • •What's driving the trend?
   • •Where in the adoption curve?
3. •

   Timing Assessment

   • •Too early? (Market not ready)
   • •Too late? (Saturated)
   • •Just right? (Growing, not crowded)

Search queries to run:

- "{topic} market size 2024 2025"
- "{topic} industry trends"
- "{topic} growth rate"
- "{problem} solutions market"

Output: Market Analysis section of validation report

Phase 3: COMPETITION (5-10 minutes)

Map the competitive landscape and find gaps.

Use: mcp__perplexity__search, mcp__firecrawl__firecrawl_search, mcp__firecrawl__firecrawl_scrape

Research areas:

1. •

   Direct Competitors

   • •Who solves the same problem?
   • •What do they charge?
   • •How do they position?
2. •

   Indirect Competitors

   • •Alternative solutions to the problem
   • •Adjacent products that could expand
3. •

   Competitor Weaknesses

   • •What do users complain about?
   • •What's missing?
   • •Where are the gaps?
4. •

   Competitive Moats

   • •What advantages do incumbents have?
   • •Network effects? Data? Brand?

Search queries to run:

- "{topic} tools alternatives"
- "{competitor} reviews complaints"
- "best {solution type} 2024 2025"
- "{competitor} vs" (autocomplete reveals competitors)

Scraping targets:

• •Competitor landing pages (positioning, pricing)
• •Review sites (G2, Capterra, Product Hunt)
• •Comparison articles

Output: Competitive Landscape section of validation report

Phase 4: COMMUNITY (5-10 minutes)

Mine real signals from where users talk.

Use: mcp__perplexity__search, mcp__firecrawl__firecrawl_search

Signal sources:

1. •

   Reddit

   • •Subreddits where target users hang out
   • •Posts asking for solutions
   • •Complaints about existing tools
2. •

   YouTube

   • •Video comments on related content
   • •Tutorial views (demand signal)
   • •Creator complaints
3. •

   Twitter/X

   • •Threads about the problem
   • •Product complaints
   • •Feature requests
4. •

   Forums/Communities

   • •Indie Hackers
   • •Hacker News
   • •Niche communities

What to look for:

• •Pain intensity (how much do they care?)
• •Willingness to pay (are they spending already?)
• •Frequency (how often do they have this problem?)
• •Workarounds (what janky solutions do they use?)

Search queries to run:

- "site:reddit.com {problem} help"
- "site:reddit.com {existing solution} frustrating"
- "{topic} indie hackers"
- "{problem} twitter thread"

Output: Community Signals section with real quotes

Phase 5: CALIBRATE (2-3 minutes)

Adjust all estimates for AI-augmented solo builder reality.

Calibration factors:

Recalibrate:

• •Development estimates (AI makes this 5-10x faster)
• •Market capture (smaller is fine for solo)
• •Competitive moats (speed and focus beat resources)
• •Revenue goals ($10K MRR can be life-changing)

Apply to:

• •Execution plan timeline
• •Budget requirements
• •Success metrics

Phase 6: SYNTHESIZE (5 minutes)

Combine all research into verdict.

Verdict options:

Confidence levels:

• •High - Strong evidence, clear signals
• •Medium - Mixed signals, some uncertainty
• •Low - Weak evidence, significant unknowns

For BUILD verdict, also provide:

• •Recommended MVP scope
• •Key risks to watch
• •Suggested first milestone

For PIVOT verdict, also provide:

• •What to change
• •New hypothesis to test
• •Suggested research focus

For KILL verdict, also provide:

• •Why it won't work
• •What we learned
• •Any salvageable ideas

Integration with Tracker

On Start

If project slug provided:
  Load project from tracker
  Use existing context
Else:
  Prompt to create project first
  Or run as standalone research

On Complete

1. Generate validation report
2. Save to project artifacts (if project exists)
3. Log to tracker:
   /tracker log {project} "Scout: Validation complete - {VERDICT} verdict ({confidence})"
4. If BUILD: Suggest /tracker update {project} VALIDATED
5. If KILL: Suggest /tracker kill {project}

MCP Usage Patterns

Perplexity (Primary Research)

# Quick market search
mcp__perplexity__search({
  query: "{topic} market size trends 2024 2025"
})

# Complex reasoning
mcp__perplexity__reason({
  query: "Analyze the competitive landscape for {product type}. Who are the major players, what are their strengths and weaknesses, and where are the gaps?"
})

# Deep research
mcp__perplexity__deep_research({
  query: "Comprehensive analysis of {market}",
  focus_areas: ["market size", "growth trends", "key players", "emerging opportunities"]
})

Firecrawl (Web Scraping)

# Search for competitors
mcp__firecrawl__firecrawl_search({
  query: "{product type} tools alternatives",
  limit: 10
})

# Scrape competitor landing page
mcp__firecrawl__firecrawl_scrape({
  url: "https://competitor.com",
  formats: ["markdown"]
})

# Extract structured data
mcp__firecrawl__firecrawl_extract({
  urls: ["https://competitor.com/pricing"],
  prompt: "Extract pricing tiers, features, and target audience",
  schema: {
    type: "object",
    properties: {
      pricing_tiers: { type: "array" },
      features: { type: "array" },
      target_audience: { type: "string" }
    }
  }
})

GitHub (Competitor Analysis)

# Search for open source alternatives
mcp__github__search_repositories({
  query: "{topic} tool"
})

# Check competitor repo activity
mcp__github__list_commits({
  owner: "competitor",
  repo: "their-product"
})

Subagent Integration

market-intelligence-analyst

Delegate complex research tasks:

Task({
  subagent_type: "market-intelligence-analyst",
  prompt: "Research the {topic} market. Focus on:
    1. Market size and growth rate
    2. Key trends driving the market
    3. Major players and their positioning
    4. Emerging opportunities and gaps

    Provide specific data points with sources."
})

Output Format

Generate validation report using templates/validation-report.md

Key sections:

1. •Executive Summary (verdict + confidence + one paragraph)
2. •Market Analysis (TAM/SAM/SOM, trends, timing)
3. •Competitive Landscape (players, gaps, moats)
4. •Community Signals (real quotes, pain intensity)
5. •Founder Fit Assessment (skills, resources, motivation)
6. •Execution Plan (calibrated for solo builder)
7. •Risks & Mitigations
8. •Verdict & Reasoning
9. •Sources

Error Handling

Changelog

v1.0.0 (2025-12-21)

• •Initial release
• •Full validation pipeline
• •Perplexity + Firecrawl integration
• •Calibration layer for solo builders
• •Tracker integration