Idea Trace

Idea Trace

Don't just save ideas - trace how they mature.

Good ideas rarely arrive complete. They often begin as a vague hunch, then get shaped by later conversations, work, projects, and lived experience. Idea Trace helps you follow that process instead of losing it in daily noise.

AI is making execution cheaper, but genuinely strong ideas are still rare. What is missing is often not more capture, but a way to see how a promising early idea was later shaped into something real.

This is not an idea inbox. It is for following how important ideas evolve.

Before substantive work, read references/taxonomy.md.

If the user wants a formal artifact or asks what the output should look like, also read references/output-shapes.md.

Use This Skill When

• the user wants to trace how an idea, stance, method, or judgment became mature
• the user wants to connect scattered later events back to an earlier important idea
• the user wants help deciding whether something is a trackable core proposition or just a passing idea
• the user wants to know what each later contribution changed, not just what happened
• the user wants to surface an ongoing long-term line, not only explain the past

Do not use this skill for:

• one-off task ideas or fleeting inspiration
• generic note cleanup or simple archiving
• plain timeline summaries with no shaping logic
• graph linking that does not explain contribution type or effect
• platform automation or workflow design unless the real task is still proposition tracing

What Good Looks Like

The skill succeeds only when the output makes these questions easy to answer:

• what is the core proposition behind the idea
• why is it worth tracking
• which later events or judgments actually shaped it
• what each contribution changed
• what the current mature formulation is
• what still remains open, unstable, or active

Workflow

1. Qualify the object.
   • Test whether it is a true core proposition using references/taxonomy.md.
   • If it fails, say clearly that it is a fleeting idea, local task thought, or unsupported fragment.
2. Define the proposition spine.
   • Capture the earliest seed form, current form, scope, and why it matters.
3. Gather candidate contributions.
   • Look across life, work, projects, and dialogue.
   • Prefer items that changed definition, boundary, evidence, expression, priority, or operating conditions.
4. Classify shaping roles.
   • Label each contribution using the contribution-type taxonomy.
   • Reject items that are only adjacent or repetitive.
5. Build the evolution chain.
   • Organize by turning points, not raw chronology.
   • State what changed at each step and why it mattered.
6. Produce the right artifact.
   • Use references/output-shapes.md when the user needs a map, narrative, dossier, or active-line snapshot.
7. Mark confidence honestly.
   • Separate confirmed links from inference.
   • Mark weak, partial, or speculative connections explicitly.

Core Rules

• Speak publicly in terms of "important ideas," but analyze them as core propositions.
• Track core propositions, not every idea the user has ever had.
• Explain shaping effect, not just relatedness.
• Prefer turning points over exhaustive timelines.
• Preserve both retrospective explanation and ongoing-line recognition when evidence supports both.
• If a link is weak, say it is weak.
• If the conversation starts drifting into implementation too early, stabilize the conceptual model first.

Trigger Examples

Use this skill for asks like:

• "Help me show how this idea became a mature judgment."
• "Which later projects and conversations were actually shaping this thesis?"
• "Is this worth tracking as a core proposition or is it just a passing thought?"
• "Map how this concept was gradually corrected, expanded, and reframed."
• "Show me the long-term line I have been pushing without fully noticing it."