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IndexTitle: Ideas
IndexDescription: Dedicated register for tracked Ideas as they mature from chat capture toward Plans and Capabilities.
IndexType: Project
IndexStatus: Active
LastEdited: 2026-06-07
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# Ideas

This file is the dedicated register for **Ideas** in the
[GoalsIdeasPlansCapabilitiesModel.md](GoalsIdeasPlansCapabilitiesModel.md).

**Goals** is the first formal repository term. **Repository Goals** are the
core durable set in [RepositoryGoals.md](RepositoryGoals.md). **Owner Goals**
are the owner's practical outcomes—captured in **Quick Startup**
(`Capabilities/GettingStarted/`) and refined in `Workspace/OwnerGoals.md`.

**Idea** is one tracked possibility; **Ideas** is this register and the
`Ideas/` folder; **Plans** shape selected Ideas into action toward Goals.

Every Idea here should ultimately support a Repository Goal or an Owner Goal
that routes through the repository.

## Where Ideas Come From

Most Ideas start as a conversation, not a file.

```text
A chat happens.
The chat is converted to Markdown (ChatToMarkdown).
A Markdown note can become one or more Ideas.
An Idea can become a Plan.
A Plan can become a Capability when the work repeats.
```

A single chat-to-Markdown note may produce more than one Idea. Split a note
into separate Ideas when it contains distinct possibilities that would mature on
different paths.

See [../Capabilities/ChatToMarkdown/README.md](../Capabilities/ChatToMarkdown/README.md)
for the chat-to-Markdown conversion step.

Triage before save: [../Capabilities/InstructionCapture/README.md](../Capabilities/InstructionCapture/README.md)
and [../Standards/IdeaCaptureTemplate.md](../Standards/IdeaCaptureTemplate.md).

## Ideas Versus FutureIdeas

| File | Role |
| --- | --- |
| `Ideas/FutureIdeas.md` | Low-friction parking lot for raw, unscoped possibilities. Capture fast, do not curate. |
| `Plans/Ideas.md` (this file) | Curated register for Ideas being actively tracked toward a Plan or Capability. |

Promote a raw note from `FutureIdeas.md` into a tracked Idea here when it has
enough shape to act on and clearly supports a Repository Goal.

## How An Idea Matures

- **Idea -> Plan:** when it supports a Repository Goal, has enough shape, and
  needs steps, decisions, or sequencing. The output is usually a focused
  planning file in `Plans/`.
- **Plan -> Capability:** not every Plan becomes a Capability. Promote when the
  work is **repeatable** - the same task keeps recurring - and future agents or
  repositories could reuse it. Repetition is the main detection signal: when an
  agent notices it is doing the same kind of task again, that is a candidate
  Capability. Use **CapabilityCreate** for the promotion.

## Tracked Ideas

Use these statuses: **Open** (captured, not yet acted on), **Planning**
(becoming a Plan), **Promoted** (became a Plan or Capability), **Parked**
(set aside), **Declined** (decided against).

| Idea | Status | Notes / Next step |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Environment-adaptive operating model | Promoted | [CloudOnlyPlanningAndMeasurementDevicePlan.md](CloudOnlyPlanningAndMeasurementDevicePlan.md) — operating profiles; terminology in NamingStandard |
| Starter repository packaging from host copy | Promoted | **StarterRepositoryPackage** Capability (Draft) — WorkflowIndex repair pass |
| Agent internal capability structure | Open | See below. Open architecture question; recommendation is to keep agent know-how in the shared Capability registry, not a hidden per-agent store. |

### Agent Internal Capability Structure

**Idea:** Agents should keep a best way of doing things, perhaps an indexed
internal capability structure of their own.

**Assessment:** The shared Capability system already is the repository's "best
way of doing things" - the registry, each Capability's `Rules.md`, the
`AgentCapabilityGuide.md`, and `CapabilityLessonsLearned.md` are exactly this,
made durable and indexed. A separate per-agent internal store would risk
drifting from the source of truth and would not be visible to humans or the
next agent, which works against the "GitHub as source of truth" Repository Goal.

**Recommendation:** Not too far as a concept, but realize it through the shared,
versioned Capability system rather than a hidden agent-only structure. If agents
need a place to record "what worked," route it into the existing Capability
`Rules.md` or a lessons-learned file so it stays inspectable and reusable.

**Status:** Open for a future Capability-architecture standards pass. Not an
approved implementation task.

## Related

- [GoalsIdeasPlansCapabilitiesModel.md](GoalsIdeasPlansCapabilitiesModel.md)
- [RepositoryGoals.md](RepositoryGoals.md)
- [../Ideas/FutureIdeas.md](../Ideas/FutureIdeas.md)
- [../Capabilities/ChatToMarkdown/README.md](../Capabilities/ChatToMarkdown/README.md)
- [../Capabilities/InstructionCapture/README.md](../Capabilities/InstructionCapture/README.md)
- [../Standards/PromotionChecklist.md](../Standards/PromotionChecklist.md)
- [../Capabilities/CapabilityCreate/README.md](../Capabilities/CapabilityCreate/README.md)
- [OpenQuestions.md](OpenQuestions.md)
