What /brainstorm does in this material[^45fde771-1fa4-5519-a1bd-1c6cdabd8394@0] In the captured Q&A about the Compound Engineering plugin, /brainstorm appears in two connected roles: - It is a plugin command that captures knowledge. In Kieran Klaassen's knowledge system, categorized markdown files include “brainstorms” — files captured via the plugin's /brainstorm command, sitting alongside “research” and “solutions” folders. [^45fde771-1fa4-5519-a1bd-1c6cdabd8394@1212] - It is also a step you run before planning on big, ambitious projects — as the guidance puts it: brainstorm first, because you can't plan what you don't understand. [^45fde771-1fa4-5519-a1bd-1c6cdabd8394@0] ### Where it fits in the knowledge-accumulation loop Rather than dumping everything into one giant CLAUDE.md, Kieran organizes knowledge into markdown files with metadata so agents can search them. The /brainstorm command is the capture mechanism for the “brainstorms” category — used, as he says, when irritation strikes: If I get annoyed or something like “I don't want to do this again” happens, I can save it somewhere. Once captured, these files are not inserted wholesale into prompts — a subagent (the Best Practices Explorer) searches them on demand and pulls in only what's relevant. [^45fde771-1fa4-5519-a1bd-1c6cdabd8394@1212] - /brainstorm is a Compound Engineering plugin command that saves findings into the “brainstorms” category of categorized markdown files. - It supports the plugin's plan → work → review cycle by codifying what worked so improvements compound. - On big ambitious projects, brainstorming comes before planning — several medium-sized plans beat one giant one. - Captured brainstorm files stay out of the main context until a subagent finds them relevant. [^45fde771-1fa4-5519-a1bd-1c6cdabd8394@0]: Live Q&A with Kieran Klaassen on Compound Engineering — knowledge organization and planning guidance. [^45fde771-1fa4-5519-a1bd-1c6cdabd8394@1212]: Kieran on capturing knowledge in categorized files, including “brainstorms” via /brainstorm.