--- name: awe-me description: >- Open a creative mind on the current context and invent a leap the user did not know to ask for — a feature, protocol, CLI, demo, architecture, product move, prose, experiment, or visual. Use when they run /awe-me or /inspire-me, say “awe me” or “inspire me”, want surprise, adjacent possible, make-strange, or are stuck recognizing instead of seeing. Not a brainstorm list. Not /better (quality pass). Not a feasibility grill. license: MIT metadata: author: kazimrmerchant version: "1.1" --- # /awe-me · /inspire-me **Banks:** [references/notes.md](references/notes.md) · [references/forms.md](references/forms.md) · [examples.md](examples.md) Awe is **not** a graphics mode. “Awe me” means: open a creative mind, then **instantiate** a leap this context can actually hold. Visuals are one form among many. If `local.md` exists beside this file, Read it after this skill (host chairs, org, paths). Public installs have no `local.md`. Say once: **“Running /awe-me.”** or **“Running /inspire-me.”** ## Categories (you choose · agent decides) Optional tokens. Combine freely. You pick the token; the agent picks questions, form (if unset), mutations, and the stretch. | Category | You choose | Agent decides | |----------|------------|---------------| | *(none)* | Default. No interview. | Infer, lock, form, build. | | `interview` | Talk before build. | Which questions, recommended answers, when to stop. | | `code` `cli` `protocol` `demo` `prose` `product` `architecture` `experiment` | Force that **form family**. | How the notes land in it. | | `svg` `3js` `infographic` `canvas` `html` | Force a **visual** form. | Craft inside that medium. | | `--notes` | Show the four notes. | Which four. | | `--plan-only` | No files. | Lock + notes + form + stretch. | | `--full` | Extra plus-pass after the hero. | One mutation that serves the idea, then ship. | | `` | Extra intent. | Still sniff context; brief does not replace it. | `/awe-me` vs `/inspire-me`: vastness + accommodation vs elevation + a Tuesday handle. Same chair. **Interview is off unless they picked `interview`.** Do not grill unprompted. Do not ask “what style do you want?” — not even in interview. Both modes **must ship an artifact** (unless `--plan-only`). A list of vibes is not the deliverable. ## Hard contract 1. Read this file. Load [references/notes.md](references/notes.md) and [references/forms.md](references/forms.md). 2. Sniff context. Interview **only** if `interview` was chosen. 3. Name the **adjacent possible**: spare parts already here + one combination they did not request. 4. Pick four notes in private (device · awe · craft · effect). Answer with mutations, not mood words. 5. Route a **hero form**. Build it in the place that form belongs (in-repo capability vs seeing-tool folder). 6. Name **one stretch** they did not know was in bounds. Build it if cheap; otherwise give the exact next command. 7. Kill list in notes.md. No “wow”. No prompt-slop. No TED-over-B-roll. 8. Paid gate: code, SVG, HTML, local demos are free. Ask before billed image/video/model APIs. 9. No commit/push unless asked. 10. Report `AWE: shipped | partial | blocked` (inspire-me uses the same tag). ## Procedure ``` AWE Progress: - [ ] 0. Mode + categories parsed + context sniffed - [ ] 0.5. Interview only if that category was chosen - [ ] 0.75. Adjacent possible named (private) - [ ] 1. Four notes chosen (private) - [ ] 2. Hero form routed (unless user forced one) - [ ] 3. Hero artifact written - [ ] 4. Stretch named (and built if cheap) - [ ] 4.5. --full plus-pass if requested - [ ] 5. Verify with evidence - [ ] 6. Report AWE: shipped | partial | blocked ``` ### 0. Context sniff (do not skip) In parallel, cheaply: - Workspace root, `README`, `GOAL.md` if present (read; do not overwrite) - `git status -sb` if a repo - Open / recently viewed files if known - User text after the slash - Domain files the repo already points at (CONTRIBUTING, protocol docs, failing tests) One-sentence lock: **what this is**, **what happens to them**. If context is empty (blank chat, empty folder) and **no** `interview`: still ship. Invent from the folder name and any README. Do not stall for a brief. ### 0.5 Interview category (skip unless chosen) Only when they passed `interview`. You choose the category; **the agent decides the questions**. - After the sniff, ask only what context cannot answer. - **One question at a time.** Wait. Multiple questions at once is bewildering. - Each question includes a **recommended answer**. They can take it, replace it, or say `just go` to skip the rest and build. - Questions come from the note bank (device / awe / craft / effect) — not “what style” or “any preferences?” - If the codebase can answer, Read/Grep instead of asking. - Cap **4 questions**, then build. Do not leave the session in interview forever. ### 0.75 Adjacent possible (private) From the parts already in this repo or thread, name **one** unused combination. That is the leap candidate. Do not dump a mood board. Pick **one** SCAMPER letter as the mutation (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse). Do not run all seven in chat. ### 1. Four notes From [references/notes.md](references/notes.md): one Device, one Awe, one Craft, one Effect. Mutations name a cut, plate, magnet, withheld title, first-run beat, API shape, or demo — not “cinematic.” `/inspire-me`: bias Awe toward **moral beauty / invitation / reflective Tuesday**. `/awe-me`: bias Awe toward **vastness + accommodation / small self / epiphany**. Keltner’s wonders include moral beauty, nature, music, visual design, spirit, big ideas, collective, birth/death. **Visual design is one of eight.** Do not default to pictures. Do not dump the bank in chat. ### 2. Form router Follow [references/forms.md](references/forms.md) unless a category forced the family. **Form follows the leap:** - Capability in this codebase → implement **here** (plus a tiny proof: test, CLI, fail-demo). - Seeing-tool (infographic, weenie, canvas, explainer HTML) → `/awe/-/` or `inspire/` for `/inspire-me`. - Never hide a product feature inside `awe/` as a souvenir. ### 3. Build Include a 5-line `README.md` next to one-shot folders: what it is, how to run/open, which note drove it. In-place code changes: the proof (test or demo command) is the README. **Hero craft (any form):** - One magnet in the first encounter (weenie, first-run command, first sentence, first failing-then-green demo) - Real content from *this* context — no lorem, no fake stats, no invented APIs - Effect before method: they should be able to say what happened, not only how you did it - Withhold the label until the artifact has done work, unless `/inspire-me` needs the door labeled **Stretch (required in the report):** one thing they did not know was in bounds. Build when it is one extra file or a small sibling; otherwise give the exact next slash (`/awe-me 3js`, `/awe-me cli`, …). ### 4. `--full` plus-pass After the hero exists: re-read it. Apply **one** plus (criticism that contains a new move). Do not restart. Do not add a second product. ### 5. Verify - Path exists. Report it as a markdown link. - Code/CLI: the command or test actually ran; paste the exit or the proving line. - Visual: file is well-formed (`viewBox` on SVG; HTML opens; no required CDN if offline was implied). - Prose: the piece is a file they can keep, not only chat. - Protocol: a spec they can implement **or** a spike that runs — not only a metaphor. ### 6. Report ``` AWE: shipped | partial | blocked Mode: awe-me | inspire-me About: Hero: Stretch: Notes: Verified: ``` Lead the user-facing reply with the artifact and the stretch, not the protocol. ## Must not - Ship a bullet list instead of an artifact - Treat “awe” as graphics-only - Interview without the `interview` category - Ask “what style do you want?” - Use `wow`, “make it pop”, or shock-as-strategy - Call paid image/video APIs without asking - Clone Dribbble / Collect UI as the idea - Fake calligraphy or fake stats - Scaffold a greenfield app into an unrelated repo without being asked