Concept Development (NASA Phase A)
Walk users through the engineering concept lifecycle — from wild ideas to a polished concept document with cited research. The process remains solution-agnostic through most phases, identifying solution OPTIONS (not picking them) only at the drill-down phase.
Overview
This skill produces two deliverables:
- Concept Document — Problem, concept, capabilities, ConOps, maturation path (modeled on engineering concept papers)
- Solution Landscape — Per-domain approaches with pros/cons, cited references, confidence ratings
The five phases build progressively:
- Spit-Ball — Open-ended ideation with feasibility probing
- Problem Definition — Refine ideas into a clear, bounded problem statement
- Black-Box Architecture — Define functional blocks, relationships, and principles without implementation
- Drill-Down — Decompose blocks, research domains, identify gaps, list solution approaches with citations
- Document — Generate final deliverables with section-by-section approval
Phases
Phase 1: Spit-Ball (/concept:spitball)
Open-ended exploration. User throws out wild ideas; Claude probes feasibility via WebSearch, asks "what if" questions, captures ideas with feasibility notes. No structure imposed. After accumulating feasibility notes, the skeptic agent reviews all claims before theme clustering. Gate: user selects which themes have energy.
Phase 2: Problem Definition (/concept:problem)
Refine viable ideas into a clear problem statement using adapted 5W2H questioning. Metered questioning (4 questions then checkpoint). Solution ideas captured but deferred to Phase 4. Gate: user approves problem statement.
Phase 3: Black-Box Architecture (/concept:blackbox)
Define concept at functional level — blocks, relationships, principles — without specifying implementation. Claude proposes 2-3 approaches with trade-offs, user selects, Claude elaborates with ASCII diagrams. Gate: user approves architecture section by section.
Phase 4: Drill-Down & Gap Analysis (/concept:drilldown)
Decompose each functional block to next level. For each: research domains, identify gaps, list potential solution APPROACHES (not pick them) with cited sources. Supports AUTO mode for autonomous research. Gate: user reviews complete drill-down.
Phase 5: Document Generation (/concept:document)
Produce Concept Document and Solution Landscape. Section-by-section user approval. Mandatory assumption review before finalization. Gate: user approves both documents.
Commands
| Command | Description | Reference |
|---|---|---|
/concept:init | Initialize session, detect research tools | concept.init.md |
/concept:spitball | Phase 1: Wild ideation | concept.spitball.md |
/concept:problem | Phase 2: Problem definition | concept.problem.md |
/concept:blackbox | Phase 3: Black-box architecture | concept.blackbox.md |
/concept:drilldown | Phase 4: Drill-down + gap analysis | concept.drilldown.md |
/concept:document | Phase 5: Generate deliverables | concept.document.md |
/concept:research | Web research with crawl4ai | concept.research.md |
/concept:status | Session status dashboard | concept.status.md |
/concept:resume | Resume interrupted session | concept.resume.md |
Scripts
| Script | Purpose | Usage |
|---|---|---|
init_session.py | Create workspace + init state | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/init_session.py [dir] |
check_tools.py | Detect research tool availability | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/check_tools.py |
update_state.py | Atomic state.json updates | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/update_state.py show |
source_tracker.py | Manage source registry | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/source_tracker.py list |
assumption_tracker.py | Track assumptions | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/assumption_tracker.py review |
web_researcher.py | Crawl4ai web research | python3 ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/web_researcher.py crawl <url> --query "..." |
Quick Reference
- State file:
.concept-dev/state.json - Output directory:
.concept-dev/ - Source registry:
.concept-dev/source_registry.json - Assumption registry:
.concept-dev/assumption_registry.json - Artifacts:
IDEAS.md,PROBLEM-STATEMENT.md,BLACKBOX.md,DRILLDOWN.md,CONCEPT-DOCUMENT.md,SOLUTION-LANDSCAPE.md
Additional Resources
Reference Files
references/research-strategies.md— Tool tier definitions, search patterns, fallback chainsreferences/verification-protocol.md— Source confidence hierarchy and verification rulesreferences/questioning-heuristics.md— Adaptive questioning modes: open, metered, structuredreferences/concept-doc-structure.md— Target document structure for Phase 5references/solution-landscape-guide.md— Neutral solution presentation rules