name: creativity-skills description: Compositional navigation tools for exploring conceptual space and generating novel outputs. Use when conversation feels stuck, obvious, or generic; when exploring connections between domains; when seeking unexpected perspectives; when outputs need more depth or novelty; when brainstorming or ideation is needed; or when the user invokes skill names like REFRAME, BRIDGE, ELABORATE, COLLIDE, etc.

Creativity Skills: Compositional Navigation Toolkit

A system for navigating conceptual space to produce novel, interesting outputs. Based on cognitive linguistics (conceptual blending, construal theory) and formalized creativity techniques.

Core Concept

Novelty emerges from compositional navigation — combining learned patterns in non-default ways. Default generation follows attractors (common phrasings, RLHF patterns, obvious framings). These skills perturb away from attractors while maintaining coherence.

Skill Tiers

Tier 1: Atomic Skills

Single operations on conceptual space. See reference files for full specifications.

Skill	Trigger	One-liner
REFRAME	Content feels obvious/stale	Apply alternative construal (now with schema parameter)
BRIDGE	Domains seem unrelated	Find shared structure enabling mapping
ELABORATE	Idea feels thin	Run blend forward, find emergent properties
CONSTRAIN	Output too generic	Exclude default paths
CONFIGURE	Need outside perspective	Specify world-state and agent for simulation
TRAVERSE	Want to explore, not answer	Move through conceptual neighborhood
SPLIT	Concept seems monolithic	Decompose into hidden structure
COLLIDE	Want chaos/emergence	Force distant elements together
FORCEMAP	Need to understand resistance/dynamics	Analyze force interactions (agonist/antagonist)

Tier 2: Compositional Operators

Ways to combine atomic skills. See references/composition.md.

SEQUENCE: skill1 → skill2 → skill3
PARALLEL: skill1 | skill2 | skill3 → combine results
ITERATE: repeat skill until condition
NEST: outer-skill(inner-skill)
INVERT: reverse skill's operation
EVOLVE: population-based exploration with variation/selection

Tier 3: Meta-Skills

Operate on the skill system itself. See references/meta-skills.md.

DIAGNOSE: Stuck? Analyze state, suggest skills
REFLECT: After skill use, assess what worked
REPERTOIRE: Survey available moves for this territory
ESCAPE: Identify attractor, find exit route

Quick Invocation

Explicit Syntax

[SKILL: parameters]

[REFRAME: perspective=alien, granularity=zoom-out]
[BRIDGE: domains=(liturgy, UX), anchor=ritual]
[ELABORATE: depth=deep, stop=contradiction]

Natural Language Triggers

When user says... Activate... "This feels boring/obvious" REFRAME or CONSTRAIN "How does X connect to Y?" BRIDGE "Keep going / develop this" ELABORATE "What if we couldn't use X?" CONSTRAIN "How would Y see this?" CONFIGURE "What's around/near this?" TRAVERSE "Is this really one thing?" SPLIT "Throw something weird in" COLLIDE "What's blocking this?" FORCEMAP "What forces are at play?" FORCEMAP "Why isn't this moving?" FORCEMAP "Give me lots of options" EVOLVE "Explore the possibilities" EVOLVE "I'm stuck" DIAGNOSE

Human Injection Points

Skills create natural pause points for human input. Offer these affordances:

CHOICE — Offer options

"I see three possible framings: (a) ... (b) ... (c) ... Which feels promising, or should I find others?"

SEED — Request arbitrary input

"Give me a random constraint: a word, a domain, a perspective."

PRUNE — Generate then let human cut

"Here are 6 directions. Cross off the boring ones."

WILD — True randomness injection

"Give me a number 1-20, a color, and a verb. I'll use them."

Workflow Modes

AUTONOMOUS: Run skill sequences, pause every N steps COLLABORATIVE: Propose each skill, await approval CHAUFFEUR: Human calls skills explicitly JAZZ: Either party injects anytime

When to Read Reference Files

Atomic Skills (read only the file you need):

REFRAME, BRIDGE, ELABORATE, CONSTRAIN: references/skills-core.md
CONFIGURE, TRAVERSE: references/skills-perspective.md
SPLIT, COLLIDE, FORCEMAP: references/skills-structure.md
Skill selection decision tree: references/heuristics.md

Composition & Meta:

Composition patterns (SEQUENCE, PARALLEL, etc.): references/composition.md
Population-based exploration (EVOLVE): references/evolve.md
Meta-skill procedures: references/meta-skills.md

Background:

Theoretical foundations: references/theory.md
Troubleshooting stuck states: references/escape-patterns.md

Anti-Patterns to Avoid

Using skills as decoration (invoke only when actually navigating)
Over-specifying (leave room for emergence)
Ignoring human injection points (collaboration > automation)
Applying same skill repeatedly (if stuck, DIAGNOSE)
Forgetting to ELABORATE (most ideas are thin at first)

Name	creativity-skills
Description	Compositional navigation tools for exploring conceptual space and generating novel outputs. Use when conversation feels stuck, obvious, or generic; when exploring connections between domains; when seeking unexpected perspectives; when outputs need more depth or novelty; when brainstorming or ideation is needed; or when the user invokes skill names like REFRAME, BRIDGE, ELABORATE, COLLIDE, etc.

creativity-skills

SKILL.md