:cody idea

:cody idea is the fast lane for capturing thoughts that come up mid-build, both yours and the agent’s, without context-switching out of whatever you’re doing. With no arguments, it shows the current backlog.

When to use it

Use :cody idea when:

• You’re mid-build and an idea pops up you don’t want to forget.
• The agent suggests something interesting that you want to evaluate later, not now.
• You want to see what’s already sitting in the backlog before starting a new version.

The point is to capture and move on. No follow-up questions, no workflow disruption.

Capture an idea

Type :cody idea followed by a short description:

:cody idea add dark mode toggle

Cody does the following silently:

1. Reads the Backlog section of feature-backlog.md and figures out the next sequence number.
2. Derives a short feature name from your description (2 to 4 words, title case).
3. Adds a new row to the Backlog table with #, Feature, Description, and Source = User.
4. Tells you: Idea #<n> captured in the backlog.

That’s it. No questions, no banner, no further interaction. You go right back to what you were doing.

If feature-backlog.md doesn’t exist yet, Cody creates it from the template before adding the idea.

View the backlog

Type :cody idea with no arguments:

:cody idea

Cody reads the Backlog section of feature-backlog.md and shows it to you as a table.

If no backlog exists yet, Cody tells you so and reminds you that :cody idea <description> creates one.

How captured ideas get used

Backlog items captured via :cody idea show up automatically when you start a new version or patch via :cody build. Cody offers them as starting points so good thoughts aren’t lost.

The Backlog section is also where Cody itself logs ideas it suggests during planning and build, with Source = Agent. The Source column tells you who proposed what.

Backlog items are removed when they’re picked up and written into a version or a patch.

What’s next

See :cody build for how backlog items flow into a new version or patch. See The Build Phase for the conceptual overview.