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Idea Refine

Turns a vague idea into a sharp one-pager through structured brainstorming and stress-testing.

Source Download skill
Repository
addyosmani/agent-skills
Stars
112,668
Licence
MIT
Files
5 files

What it does

Once installed, the agent works through an idea with you in three stages: it restates the idea as a clear problem, asks a few sharpening questions, and proposes several variations. It then narrows to two or three directions, tests each for user value, feasibility and differentiation, and names the assumptions that could sink them. The end product is a markdown one-pager with a problem statement, recommended direction, assumptions to validate, MVP scope and a 'Not Doing' list, saved to docs/ideas only if you confirm.

Great for

  • Founders or product thinkers with a rough idea who want it pressure-tested before building
  • Developers scoping a feature who want to surface hidden assumptions and cut scope
  • Anyone who wants a structured, honest sounding board rather than a yes-machine

Skip it if

  • People who don't yet know what they want at all; the skill points to a different skill (interview-me) for that
  • Work where the direction is already chosen and only needs a detailed spec (the skill points to spec-driven-development instead)

Try asking

  • “Help me refine this idea: a app that helps neighbours share tools”
  • “Ideate on a better onboarding flow for our SaaS product”
  • “Stress-test my plan to move our reporting to a self-hosted tool”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Idea RefineInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 5 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    idea-refine.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip idea-refine.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip idea-refine.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Give the agent concrete context such as who the user is and what success looks like, since it will ask about these before generating variations.
  • Run it from your project root so it can scan existing code for relevant context and save the one-pager to docs/ideas.
  • Read the 'Not Doing' and assumptions sections closely; they are the most useful parts of the output.

What's inside

  • examples.md
  • frameworks.md
  • refinement-criteria.md
  • scripts/idea-refine.sh
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from addyosmani/agent-skills under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.