Begin with your idea
Write the unfinished thought in Start with a prompt, or choose Guide me. Soval may infer Explore an idea; you can confirm it under Work settings. Aim for a short inquiry brief rather than a finished project plan.
Find the question
Answer the current conversational question about the problem, audience, outcome, and scope. Add observations separately from guesses.
Compare a few directions
Record alternatives, tradeoffs, and the cheapest useful next check. Save the candidate direction without presenting it as a decision.
Prepare a decision
Record whether the next step is another question, an experiment, or a separate request to form a project. Identify who must decide.
Try: “Explore a simpler way for our team to hand off work. Compare three approaches. Mark assumptions and propose one small check before recommending a project.”
New idea threads require a question, audience, outcome and scope; sources, observations and assumptions; alternatives or a reason for a single option; tradeoffs; actual checks and results; unperformed checks and remaining risks; and a candidate next action with unresolved decisions. Explain unknowns instead of entering only TBD. Review the declarations before marking complete. Trusted baseline changes require a configured domain service; project formation is separate.
Keep the stages distinct
A useful inquiry can finish without becoming a project. A polished plan, repeated discussion, or completed thread does not create project identity or permission to implement it.