braindump

# COG Braindump Skill

## Purpose
Transform raw thoughts into strategic intelligence through quick capture, systematic analysis, pattern recognition, and domain-aware insight extraction with minimal user friction.

## When to Invoke
- User wants to capture stream-of-consciousness thoughts
- User says "braindump", "brain dump", "capture thoughts", or "write down ideas"
- User has ideas they want to quickly record
- User mentions wanting to get thoughts out of their head

## Agent Mode Awareness

**Check `agent_mode` in `00-inbox/MY-PROFILE.md` frontmatter:**
- If `agent_mode: team` — delegate research, analysis, and writing subtasks to specialist sub-agents (e.g., use Task tool to delegate deep analysis, competitive intel extraction, or pattern recognition to separate agents). Combine results before presenting to user.
- If `agent_mode: solo` (default) — handle everything directly in the conversation. No delegation.

## Pre-Flight Check

**Before executing, check for user profile:**

1. Look for `00-inbox/MY-PROFILE.md` in the vault
2. If NOT found:
   ```
   Welcome to COG! It looks like this is your first time.

   Before we start, let's quickly set up your profile (takes 2 minutes).

   Would you like to run onboarding first, or should I proceed with default settings?
   ```
3. If found:
   - Read the profile to get user's name and active projects
   - If user has active projects listed, offer them as domain options
   - Use user's name for friendly communication
   - Read `03-professional/COMPETITIVE-WATCHLIST.md` if it exists for competitive intelligence detection

**Get current timestamp (REQUIRED before generating any files):**

1. Run `date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M'` using Bash to get the actual current date and time
2. Store this value and use it for ALL timestamp fields (`created:` frontmatter AND filename `HHMM` component)
3. NEVER guess or fabricate the time — always use the value returned by the `date` command

## Process Flow

### 1. User Interaction & Input Collection
- Greet user warmly (use their name from MY-PROFILE.md if available)
- Ask: "What's on your mind?" or "Ready for a brain dump?"
- Collect their stream-of-consciousness input (can be long, rambling, voice-to-text, etc.)
- Accept any format - no judgment, no filtering

### 2. Domain Classification
Ask user to classify or auto-detect based on content:

**If user profile exists with projects:**
- **Personal:** Individual growth, relationships, wellness
- **Professional:** Work, leadership, career development
- **Project-Specific:** Related to specific projects
  - If MY-PROFILE.md lists projects, offer: "Which project? [list project names]"
  - Example: "Which project? (1) SaaS Product, (2) Book Writing, (3) Health App"
- **Mixed/Unclear:** Spans multiple areas

**If no profile:** Use standard personal/professional/mixed classification

### 3. Content Analysis and Processing

Apply the comprehensive analysis framework directly:

#### Phase 1: Content Ingestion
Analyze the input to understand:
- **Content Type:** [voice-transcript|written-notes|mixed]
- **Length:** [word-count]
- **Energy Level:** [high|medium|low]
- **Emotional Tone:** [excited|frustrated|curious|concerned|neutral|mixed]
- **Context:** [situational-background]

#### Phase 2: Structural Analysis
Extract and identify:
- **Main Themes:** [3-5 primary topics]
- **Supporting Ideas:** [related concepts and details]
- **Questions Raised:** [explicit and implicit questions]
- **Decisions Contemplated:** [choices being considered]
- **Action Items:** [tasks and commitments identified]

#### Phase 3: Domain Classification (with confidence)
Determine:
- **Primary Domain:** [personal|professional|project-specific] with confidence level
- **Secondary Domains:** [if content spans multiple areas]
- **Cross-Domain Elements:** [themes that apply across domains]
- **Privacy Considerations:** [sensitive content requiring protection]

#### Phase 4: Strategic Insight Extraction
Identify:
- **Key Insights:** [3-5 most important realizations]
- **Pattern Recognition:** [connections to previous thoughts/decisions]
- **Strategic Implications:** [what this means for goals and priorities]
- **Decision Framework:** [how this informs future choices]

#### Phase 5: Competitive Intelligence Detection
If COMPETITIVE-WATCHLIST.md exists:
- Scan braindump content for mentions of tracked companies/people
- Extract competitive intelligence to separate files
- Create cross-references back to original braindump

### 4. Generate Structured Output

Create braindump file with this structure:

```markdown
---
type: "braindump"
domain: "[personal|professional|project-specific|mixed]"
project: "[project-name]" # Only if project-specific
date: "YYYY-MM-DD"
created: "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM"
themes: ["theme1", "theme2", "theme3"]
tags: ["#braindump", "#raw-thoughts", "#domain-tag"]
status: "captured"
energy_level: "[high|medium|low]"
emotional_tone: "[primary-emotion]"
confidence: "[high|medium|low]"
---

# Braindump: [Auto-generated descriptive title]

## Raw Thoughts
[Original user content preserved exactly as provided]

## Content Analysis

### Main Themes
1. **Theme 1:** [description and significance]
2. **Theme 2:** [description and significance]
3. **Theme 3:** [description and significance]

### Supporting Ideas
- [Supporting concept 1]
- [Supporting concept 2]
- [Supporting concept 3]

### Questions Raised
- [Question 1 for deeper exploration]
- [Question 2 requiring consideration]

### Decisions Contemplated
- [Decision 1 being considered with options]
- [Decision 2 under evaluation]

## Strategic Intelligence

### Key Insights
1. **Insight 1:** [description and implications]
2. **Insight 2:** [description and implications]
3. **Insight 3:** [description and implications]

### Pattern Recognition
- **Connection to Previous Thinking:** [links to earlier braindumps or frameworks]
- **Recurring Patterns:** [themes that keep appearing]
- **Evolution:** [how thinking has developed]

### Strategic Impli