Why this exists
Ideas arrive mid-task. You are debugging something, and suddenly you know exactly what your next service offer should be. The choice in that moment is bad either way: stop working to write it down properly, or trust your memory. Memory loses.
The fix is an inbox with zero ceremony. One line to Claude, and the idea becomes a dated file with tags and an index entry, in a folder where it will actually be found again. I learned the folder part the hard way: my first version saved ideas to the repo root, where they sat one cleanup away from deletion. This version refuses to do that.
How it works
- You dump the idea as it comes Rough, half-formed, with filler. That is the point: capture must cost nothing.
- It cleans without shrinking Filler words and false starts go, every substantive detail stays. Three rough sentences become three clean sentences, not one vague one.
- It files the idea properly A dated, slugged, tagged markdown file in your ideas folder. Never the project root, where loose files go to die in the next cleanup.
- It updates the index One line per idea under a category heading (Business, Automation, Design, Client Work), newest first, with a one-line hook so future-you knows what is inside without opening it.
Step by step (for first-time users)
- Open Claude Code in your notes or vault project Anywhere you want ideas to live. Works great inside an Obsidian vault.
-
Type
/idea-inboxplus the idea Example:/idea-inbox what if the etsy bot also generated seasonal pin variants automatically. - First run only: confirm the folder It finds an existing ideas folder or asks where to create one, then sets up the index.
- Keep working The idea is filed and indexed. Review the index weekly and promote the good ones into projects.
What gets created
| Artifact | Example |
|---|---|
| Idea file | ideas/2026-06-11-seasonal-pin-variants.md with date and tags in frontmatter |
| Index entry | One line under "Automation & Tools" with a hook: "auto-generate seasonal variants of top pins" |
| Categories | Business, Automation & Tools, Design & Creative, Client Work, Misc (yours to rename) |
Honest take
What it does well: The index is the part you do not appreciate until month three. Thirty loose idea files are write-only storage; an index with categories and one-line hooks is something you can actually review on a Friday. The cleanup rule matters too: it tightens your rambling without compressing away the details that made the idea worth keeping.
What it does not do: It does not evaluate, rank, or develop ideas, and it never edits or deletes existing ones. It is an inbox, not an advisor. Pruning the bad ideas and promoting the good ones stays a human Friday-afternoon job, as it should.
When to use it: The moment an idea interrupts you. The whole skill exists for the ten seconds between "oh, that could work" and losing it to the next compile error.