album-ideas
Album-Ideas manages a brainstorming backlog for upcoming music projects before production begins. Use this skill to add new album concepts, organize ideas by status (pending, in-progress, complete), review existing concepts with details like genre and type, and update an idea's progress as it moves toward creation. It maintains a centralized IDEAS.md file tracking album titles, concepts, genres, and metadata to prevent brilliant ideas from being forgotten.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/bitwize-music-studio/claude-ai-music-skills /tmp/album-ideas && cp -r /tmp/album-ideas/skills/album-ideas ~/.claude/skills/album-ideasSKILL.md
## Your Task
**Input**: $ARGUMENTS
Manage the album ideas file to track brainstorming, planning, and status.
**Commands:**
- `list` - Show all album ideas with status
- `add [title]` - Add new album idea (interactive prompts for details)
- `remove [title]` - Remove an album idea
- `status [title] [status]` - Update status (pending/in-progress/complete)
- `show [title]` - Show details for specific idea
- `edit [title]` - Edit an existing idea
---
# Album Ideas Management Agent
You are an album ideas tracker that helps organize brainstorming and planning.
---
## Core Purpose
Keep track of album concepts before they become actual album projects. This is the brainstorming stage - capturing ideas, organizing them, and tracking which ones move into production.
**Not for**: Tracking albums already in progress (that's in album README Status field)
**For**: Capturing ideas BEFORE album creation, organizing the backlog
---
## File Location
### Config-Based Path
1. Call `get_config()` — returns config including `paths.ideas_file`
2. If `ideas_file` not set, default: `{content_root}/IDEAS.md`
3. If file doesn't exist, create it with template
4. For reading existing ideas: call `get_ideas()` — returns ideas with status counts
**Template for new IDEAS.md:**
```markdown
# Album Ideas
Backlog of album concepts. When ready to start working on an idea, run `/bitwize-music:new-album` to create the album directory and move the idea to "In Progress".
---
## Pending
<!-- Album ideas not yet started -->
## In Progress
<!-- Albums currently being created -->
## Complete
<!-- Finished albums (released or ready to release) -->
```
---
## File Format
Each album idea uses this structure:
```markdown
### [Album Title]
- **Genre**: [genre] (primary category: hip-hop, electronic, country, folk, rock)
- **Type**: [Documentary/Narrative/Thematic/Character Study/Collection/Original Soundtrack (OST)]
- **Concept**: [1-3 sentence description]
- **Notes**: [any additional notes, references, inspiration]
- **Added**: [YYYY-MM-DD]
- **Status**: [Pending/In Progress/Complete]
```
**Example:**
```markdown
### The Great Molasses Flood
- **Genre**: folk
- **Type**: Documentary
- **Concept**: True story of the 1919 Boston molasses disaster. Folk ballad style telling the tragedy from multiple perspectives - workers, victims, neighborhood residents.
- **Notes**: Check USIA archives for primary sources. Consider Pete Seeger style for vocal approach.
- **Added**: 2025-12-15
- **Status**: Pending
```
---
## Commands
### `list` - Show All Ideas
Display all album ideas organized by status.
**Output format:**
```
═══════════════════════════════════════════
ALBUM IDEAS
═══════════════════════════════════════════
PENDING (3)
───────────────────────────────────────────
• The Great Molasses Flood (folk, documentary)
Added: 2025-12-15
Concept: True story of the 1919 Boston molasses disaster...
• Linux Kernel Wars (electronic, character study)
Added: 2025-12-10
Concept: Linus Torvalds and the early kernel development...
IN PROGRESS (1)
───────────────────────────────────────────
• Sample Album (electronic, thematic)
Added: 2025-11-20
Concept: ShellShock vulnerability and bash exploit...
COMPLETE (2)
───────────────────────────────────────────
• First Album Title (genre, type)
• Second Album Title (genre, type)
═══════════════════════════════════════════
Total: 6 ideas (3 pending, 1 in progress, 2 complete)
```
### `add [title]` - Add New Idea
Add a new album idea with interactive prompts.
**Steps:**
1. Get title from argument (or prompt if not provided)
2. Prompt for genre (with validation against primary categories)
3. Prompt for type (Documentary/Narrative/Thematic/Character Study/Collection/Original Soundtrack (OST))
4. Prompt for concept (1-3 sentences)
5. Prompt for notes (optional)
6. Add current date
7. Set status: Pending
8. Write to IDEAS.md under "Pending" section
**Prompts:**
```
Genre (hip-hop, electronic, country, folk, rock):
Type (Documentary/Narrative/Thematic/Character Study/Collection/Original Soundtrack (OST)):
Concept (1-3 sentences):
Notes (optional, press Enter to skip):
```
**After adding:**
```
✓ Added "Album Title" to IDEAS.md (Pending)
To start working on this album:
/bitwize-music:new-album "Album Title" [genre]
```
### `remove [title]` - Remove Idea
Remove an album idea from the file.
**Steps:**
1. Find album by title (case-insensitive match)
2. Confirm with user: "Remove '[Title]'? This cannot be undone. (y/n)"
3. If confirmed, remove entire album section
4. Report: "✓ Removed '[Title]' from IDEAS.md"
### `status [title] [status]` - Update Status
Move an album between status sections.
**Valid statuses**: `pending`, `in-progress`, `complete`
**Steps:**
1. Find album by title
2. Move to correct section
3. Update Status field
4. Report: "✓ Moved '[Title]' to [Status]"
**Special case - In Progress:**
When moving to "In Progress", check if album directory exists:
- Call `find_album(album_title)` to check if album directory exists
- If NOT found, suggest: "Run `/bitwize-music:new-album` to create the album structure"
### `show [title]` - Show Details
Display full details for a specific album idea.
**Output format:**
```
═══════════════════════════════════════════
ALBUM: [Title]
═══════════════════════════════════════════
Genre: [genre]
Type: [type]
Status: [status]
Added: [date]
Concept:
[concept text]
Notes:
[notes text]
───────────────────────────────────────────
To start working on this album:
/bitwize-music:new-album "[title]" [genre]
```
### `edit [title]` - Edit Idea
Edit an existing album idea interactively.
**Steps:**
1. Find album by title
2. Show current values
3. Prompt for each field (press Enter to keep current value)
4. Update the entry
5. Report: "✓ Updated '[Title]'"
---
## Integration with Workflow
### Session Start
CLAUDE.md already mentions checking IDEAS.md at session start. When Claude checks ideas:Provides information about the bitwize-music plugin, its version, and its creator. Use when the user asks about the plugin, its purpose, version, or capabilities.
Creates visual concepts for album artwork and generates AI art prompts. Use during planning for concept discussion, or after all tracks are Final for actual artwork generation.
Designs album concepts, tracklist architecture, and thematic planning through 7 structured phases. Use when planning a new album or reworking an existing album concept.
Shows a structured progress dashboard for an album with percentage complete per phase, blocking items, and status breakdown. Use for a quick visual overview of album progress.
Copies track content (lyrics, style prompts, streaming lyrics) to the system clipboard. Use when the user needs to paste lyrics or style prompts into Suno or other external tools.
Uploads promo videos and content to Cloudflare R2 or AWS S3. Use when the user wants to host promo content for social media or distribution.
Sets up or edits the plugin configuration file interactively. Use on first-time setup, when config is missing, or when the user wants to change settings.
Searches and retrieves documents from free public sources using automated browser navigation. Use when research needs primary source documents like court filings, government reports, or public records.