Omakase Off

Omakase-Off

Chef's choice exploration - when you're not sure WHAT to build, explore different approaches in parallel.

Part of Test Kitchen Development:

• omakase-off - Chef's choice exploration (different approaches/plans)
• cookoff - Same design, multiple cooks compete (each creates its own plan from the shared design)

Core principle: Let indecision emerge naturally during brainstorming, then implement multiple approaches in parallel to let real code + tests determine the best solution.

Three Triggers

Trigger 1: BEFORE Brainstorming

When: "I want to build...", "Create a...", "Implement...", "Add a feature..."

Present:

Before we brainstorm the details, would you like to:

1. Brainstorm together - We'll explore requirements and design step by step
2. Omakase (chef's choice) - I'll generate 3-5 best approaches, implement them
   in parallel, and let tests pick the winner

Trigger 2: DURING Brainstorming (Indecision Detection)

Detection signals:

• 2+ uncertain responses in a row on architectural decisions
• Phrases: "not sure", "don't know", "either works", "you pick", "no preference"

When detected:

You seem flexible on the approach. Would you like to:
1. I'll pick what seems best and continue brainstorming
2. Explore multiple approaches in parallel (omakase-off)

Trigger 3: Explicitly Requested

• "try both approaches", "explore both", "omakase"
• "implement both variants", "let's see which is better"

Workflow Overview

Phase	Description
0. Entry	Present brainstorm vs omakase choice
1. Brainstorm	Passive slot detection during design
1.5. Decision	If slots detected, offer parallel exploration
2. Plan	Generate implementation plan per variant
3. Implement	Dispatch ALL agents in SINGLE message
4. Evaluate	Scenario tests → fresh-eyes → judge survivors
5. Complete	Finish winner, cleanup losers

See references/detailed-workflow.md for full phase details.

Directory Structure

docs/plans/<feature>/
  design.md                  # Shared context from brainstorming
  omakase/
    variant-<slug>/
      plan.md                # Implementation plan for this variant
    result.md                # Final report

.worktrees/
  variant-<slug>/            # Omakase variant worktree

Slot Classification

Type	Examples	Worth exploring?
Architectural	Storage engine, framework, auth method	Yes
Trivial	File location, naming, config format	No

Only architectural decisions become slots for parallel exploration.

Variant Limits

Max 5-6 implementations. Don't do full combinatorial explosion:

1. Identify the primary axis (biggest architectural impact)
2. Create variants along that axis
3. Fill secondary slots with natural pairings

Critical Rules

1. Dispatch ALL variants in SINGLE message - Multiple Task tools, one message
2. MUST use scenario-testing - Not manual verification
3. Fresh-eyes on survivors - Required before judge comparison
4. Always cleanup losers - Remove worktrees and branches
5. Write result.md - Document what was tried and why winner won

Skills Orchestrated

Dependency	Usage
brainstorming	Modified flow with passive slot detection
writing-plans	Generate implementation plan per variant
git-worktrees	Create isolated worktree per variant
parallel-agents	Dispatch all variant subagents in parallel
scenario-testing	Run same scenarios against all variants
fresh-eyes	Quality review on survivors → input for judge
judge (test-kitchen:judge)	REQUIRED Phase 4 scoring — invoke fresh to evaluate survivors with 5-criteria framework
finish-branch	Handle winner (merge/PR), cleanup losers

Example Flow

User: "I need to build a CLI todo app."

Claude: [Triggers omakase-off]
Before we dive in, how would you like to approach this?
1. Brainstorm together
2. Omakase (chef's choice)

User: "1"

Claude: [Brainstorming proceeds, detects indecision on storage]

You seem flexible on storage (JSON vs SQLite). Would you like to:
1. Explore in parallel - I'll implement both variants
2. Best guess - I'll pick JSON (simpler)

User: "1"

[Creates plans for variant-json, variant-sqlite]
[Dispatches parallel agents in SINGLE message]
[Runs scenario tests on both]
[Fresh-eyes review on survivors]
[Presents comparison, user picks winner]
[Cleans up loser, finishes winner branch]