# /validate-idea — Pre-Build Validation

## Usage
```
/validate-idea "Add a referral program for existing users"
/validate-idea "Build an API for third-party integrations"
/validate-idea "Launch a mobile app"
```

## Input
- `$ARGUMENTS` — **required**: the idea to validate

## Process

### Step 1: Parse Idea
Extract from `$ARGUMENTS`:
- Core idea description
- Implied audience (if mentioned)
- Implied scope (feature, product, channel)

### Step 2: Codebase Check
Search the codebase to see if this (or something similar) already exists:
- Use Glob to search for related file names
- Use Grep to search for related functionality
- Check `data/ideas.json` for similar existing ideas
- Check `data/hypotheses.json` for related hypotheses

If something similar exists, note it and assess whether the idea is:
- **Duplicate** — already exists or already proposed
- **Extension** — builds on existing functionality
- **New** — genuinely novel

### Step 3: Competitor Check
Load `data/competitors.json` and check:
- Do competitors offer this? Which ones?
- How do they implement it?
- Is it a differentiator or table stakes?

If no competitor data, WebSearch:
- `"[competitor name] [idea keyword]"` for top 3 competitors

### Step 4: Market Demand Check
WebSearch for demand signals:
- `"[idea keyword] demand"` or `"[idea keyword] need"`
- `"[product category] users want [idea]"`
- Check for feature request patterns on review sites, forums

### Step 5: Score the Idea
Score on three dimensions (1-5 each):

1. **Desirability** (Do users want it?)
   - Evidence from search results, competitor adoption, user feedback
   - Score 5: strong demand signals
   - Score 1: no evidence of demand

2. **Feasibility** (Can we build it?)
   - Technical complexity assessment from codebase check
   - Dependencies and prerequisites
   - Score 5: straightforward with existing tech
   - Score 1: requires major new infrastructure

3. **Viability** (Will it make money?)
   - Revenue potential or retention impact
   - Alignment with current business model
   - Score 5: direct revenue impact
   - Score 1: no clear business case

### Step 6: Recommendation
Based on scores, recommend:

- **GO** (avg score >= 4): Strong idea, proceed to implementation
- **INVESTIGATE** (avg score 2.5-3.9): Promising but needs more data
- **STOP** (avg score < 2.5): Evidence doesn't support this idea

### Step 7: Create Artifacts
If GO or INVESTIGATE:
- Create a hypothesis in `data/hypotheses.json`:
  ```json
  {
    "title": "[Idea title]",
    "statement": "If we [build this], then [metric] will [change] because [evidence]",
    "funnel_stage": "[appropriate stage]",
    "priority": "[based on score]",
    "effort_to_test": "[estimate]",
    "tags": ["validation"]
  }
  ```

### Step 8: Output
Print:
- Idea summary
- Codebase check results (existing / extension / new)
- Competitor landscape (who does this, how)
- Demand evidence
- Score breakdown (desirability / feasibility / viability)
- **Recommendation: GO / INVESTIGATE / STOP**
- Evidence summary
- Hypothesis created (if applicable)
- Suggested next steps

## Output Files
- `data/hypotheses.json` — validation hypothesis (if GO or INVESTIGATE)