Multi-Agent Brainstorming (Structured Design Review)
Purpose
Transform a single-agent design into a robust, review-validated design by simulating a formal peer-review process using multiple constrained agents.
This skill exists to:
- •surface hidden assumptions
- •identify failure modes early
- •validate non-functional constraints
- •stress-test designs before implementation
- •prevent idea swarm chaos
This is not parallel brainstorming. It is sequential design review with enforced roles.
Operating Model
- •One agent designs.
- •Other agents review.
- •No agent may exceed its mandate.
- •Creativity is centralized; critique is distributed.
- •Decisions are explicit and logged.
The process is gated and terminates by design.
Agent Roles (Non-Negotiable)
Each agent operates under a hard scope limit.
1️⃣ Primary Designer (Lead Agent)
Role:
- •Owns the design
- •Runs the standard
brainstormingskill - •Maintains the Decision Log
May:
- •Ask clarification questions
- •Propose designs and alternatives
- •Revise designs based on feedback
May NOT:
- •Self-approve the final design
- •Ignore reviewer objections
- •Invent requirements post-lock
2️⃣ Skeptic / Challenger Agent
Role:
- •Assume the design will fail
- •Identify weaknesses and risks
May:
- •Question assumptions
- •Identify edge cases
- •Highlight ambiguity or overconfidence
- •Flag YAGNI violations
May NOT:
- •Propose new features
- •Redesign the system
- •Offer alternative architectures
Prompting guidance:
“Assume this design fails in production. Why?”
3️⃣ Constraint Guardian Agent
Role:
- •Enforce non-functional and real-world constraints
Focus areas:
- •performance
- •scalability
- •reliability
- •security & privacy
- •maintainability
- •operational cost
May:
- •Reject designs that violate constraints
- •Request clarification of limits
May NOT:
- •Debate product goals
- •Suggest feature changes
- •Optimize beyond stated requirements
4️⃣ User Advocate Agent
Role:
- •Represent the end user
Focus areas:
- •cognitive load
- •usability
- •clarity of flows
- •error handling from user perspective
- •mismatch between intent and experience
May:
- •Identify confusing or misleading aspects
- •Flag poor defaults or unclear behavior
May NOT:
- •Redesign architecture
- •Add features
- •Override stated user goals
5️⃣ Integrator / Arbiter Agent
Role:
- •Resolve conflicts
- •Finalize decisions
- •Enforce exit criteria
May:
- •Accept or reject objections
- •Require design revisions
- •Declare the design complete
May NOT:
- •Invent new ideas
- •Add requirements
- •Reopen locked decisions without cause
The Process
Phase 1 — Single-Agent Design
- •Primary Designer runs the standard
brainstormingskill - •Understanding Lock is completed and confirmed
- •Initial design is produced
- •Decision Log is started
No other agents participate yet.
Phase 2 — Structured Review Loop
Agents are invoked one at a time, in the following order:
- •Skeptic / Challenger
- •Constraint Guardian
- •User Advocate
For each reviewer:
- •Feedback must be explicit and scoped
- •Objections must reference assumptions or decisions
- •No new features may be introduced
Primary Designer must:
- •Respond to each objection
- •Revise the design if required
- •Update the Decision Log
Phase 3 — Integration & Arbitration
The Integrator / Arbiter reviews:
- •the final design
- •the Decision Log
- •unresolved objections
The Arbiter must explicitly decide:
- •which objections are accepted
- •which are rejected (with rationale)
Decision Log (Mandatory Artifact)
The Decision Log must record:
- •Decision made
- •Alternatives considered
- •Objections raised
- •Resolution and rationale
No design is considered valid without a completed log.
Exit Criteria (Hard Stop)
You may exit multi-agent brainstorming only when all are true:
- •Understanding Lock was completed
- •All reviewer agents have been invoked
- •All objections are resolved or explicitly rejected
- •Decision Log is complete
- •Arbiter has declared the design acceptable
- •
If any criterion is unmet:
- •Continue review
- •Do NOT proceed to implementation If this skill was invoked by a routing or orchestration layer, you MUST report the final disposition explicitly as one of: APPROVED, REVISE, or REJECT, with a brief rationale.
Failure Modes This Skill Prevents
- •Idea swarm chaos
- •Hallucinated consensus
- •Overconfident single-agent designs
- •Hidden assumptions
- •Premature implementation
- •Endless debate
Key Principles
- •One designer, many reviewers
- •Creativity is centralized
- •Critique is constrained
- •Decisions are explicit
- •Process must terminate
Final Reminder
This skill exists to answer one question with confidence:
“If this design fails, did we do everything reasonable to catch it early?”
If the answer is unclear, do not exit this skill.