# AI use cases for Elephant Goldfish Model (google/elephant-goldfish-model) Repo: [google/elephant-goldfish-model](https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model) | Use cases: 5 | Page: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/ An open-source Google plugin for spec-driven development that uses deep-context Elephant agents to draft specs and isolated Goldfish subagents to stress-test them before code is written. This file holds every use case of this repo. Each one starts with a "## " heading and ends with its URL. - Stress-test a design doc before writing code: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/stress-test-design-doc-before-coding/ - Draft a design spec one section at a time: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/draft-spec-section-by-section/ - Find where a checked-in spec no longer matches code: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/find-spec-code-drift/ - Test an early feature idea before any docs exist: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/brainstorm-concept-with-goldfish-swarm/ - Generate codebase docs bottom up for an undocumented repo: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/bootstrap-codebase-docs-bottom-up/ ## How to stress-test a design doc before writing code with Elephant Goldfish Model Repo: [google/elephant-goldfish-model](https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model) | Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 45 minutes | Basis: From the README Run a multi-stage Goldfish reviewer swarm over a draft spec to find gaps before implementation. **Who it is for:** A software engineer about to start a feature who has a written design doc and wants independent review before coding begins. **The problem:** Design docs often have gaps that only show up during implementation, and the author is too close to the text to see them. **The outcome:** A reviewed design doc with findings from several isolated reviewer passes, ready to be resolved and submitted by pull request. ### Steps 1. Install the plugin in Claude Code with `claude plugin marketplace add google/elephant-goldfish-model && claude plugin install egm@egm` 2. Start Claude Code and run `/egm:egm-review docs/designs/.md` on your draft (inferred, check the README) 3. Read the findings from each stage: Zoom Out, Comprehension, Critic, and Readiness 4. Run `/egm-resolve` to triage the findings and apply patches you approve 5. Submit the verified design doc via pull request, then implement against it ### Prompt to paste into your agent ```text In the repo , use the EGM plugin's /egm-review skill on docs/designs/.md. Report the findings grouped by review stage and list which findings the design doc does not yet answer. Verify that each finding cites a section of the draft that exists. ``` ### Caveat Goldfish reviewers read only the draft spec and live source code, so they cannot see decisions or context that live outside those files. Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/ URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/stress-test-design-doc-before-coding/ ## How to draft a design spec one section at a time with Elephant Goldfish Model Repo: [google/elephant-goldfish-model](https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model) | Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 45 minutes | Basis: From the README Turn a rough concept brief into a living design document built section by section. **Who it is for:** A product-minded engineer who has a concept brief and needs a structured design doc without starting from a blank page. **The problem:** Writing a full specification in one pass is slow, and the structure often drifts from what the team needs to decide. **The outcome:** A markdown design document under docs/designs/ that was compiled section by section from the concept brief. ### Steps 1. Install the plugin in your agent, for example in Claude Code with `claude plugin marketplace add google/elephant-goldfish-model && claude plugin install egm@egm` 2. Place your concept brief in the repo, or describe it to the agent 3. Run `/egm-draft` and answer the questions it asks for each section 4. Save the output as a markdown file under docs/designs/ 5. Run `/egm-review` on the file before you open a pull request ### Prompt to paste into your agent ```text Using the EGM plugin in , run /egm-draft on the concept brief at and write the result to docs/designs/.md. Confirm that the file has a section for each part of the brief and list any part you could not fill in. ``` ### Caveat The README describes the drafting skill but does not show its exact prompts, so expect to check each section the agent writes against your own decisions. Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/ URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/draft-spec-section-by-section/ ## How to find where a checked-in spec no longer matches code with Elephant Goldfish Model Repo: [google/elephant-goldfish-model](https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model) | Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 30 minutes | Basis: From the README Scan code against existing specs to report divergence between the written design and the live code. **Who it is for:** A maintainer who inherited a repo with specs under docs/designs/ and suspects the code has moved away from them. **The problem:** Specs go stale after code changes, and nobody knows which parts of the written design still describe what runs. **The outcome:** A drift report listing where the checked-in spec and the live code diverge, so the team can fix one side. ### Steps 1. Install the plugin in Claude Code with `claude plugin marketplace add google/elephant-goldfish-model && claude plugin install egm@egm` 2. Start Claude Code in the repo that holds your specs and code 3. Run `/egm:egm-drift-report` 4. Review each reported divergence and decide whether to update the spec or the code 5. Commit the spec updates in the same pull request as the code change they describe (inferred, check the README) ### Prompt to paste into your agent ```text In the repo , run the EGM /egm-drift-report skill against the specs in docs/designs/. Output a list of each divergence with the spec file, the spec claim, and the code location. Verify that every listed claim quotes text that exists in the spec file. ``` ### Caveat The README describes the drift scanner as an AST scanner, so it may not catch divergence that only shows up in behavior or configuration. Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/ URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/find-spec-code-drift/ ## How to test an early feature idea before any docs exist with Elephant Goldfish Model Repo: [google/elephant-goldfish-model](https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model) | Difficulty: Beginner | Time: 30 minutes | Basis: From the README Explore problem boundaries and stress-test a raw concept with a Goldfish swarm. **Who it is for:** A founder or engineer with a rough idea who wants it challenged from several viewpoints before writing anything down. **The problem:** Early ideas get committed to too fast, and the weak assumptions only surface after a lot of work. **The outcome:** A concept brief with the problem boundaries mapped and the weak points flagged by the swarm, ready for drafting. ### Steps 1. Install the plugin in your agent, for example in Claude Code with `claude plugin marketplace add google/elephant-goldfish-model && claude plugin install egm@egm` 2. Run `/egm:egm-brainstorm` and describe the idea in your own words 3. Answer the probing questions about scope and limits 4. Read the swarm's shootdown notes on each concept 5. Keep the surviving concept as the brief for `/egm-draft` ### Prompt to paste into your agent ```text Using the EGM plugin in , run /egm-brainstorm on this idea: . Return the problem boundaries, the concepts that survived the Goldfish shootdown, and the concepts that did not, with one reason each. Verify that each rejected concept names the specific objection raised. ``` ### Caveat The brainstorm skill runs from a conversation with no design doc, so its output is only as good as the idea you describe. Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/ URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/brainstorm-concept-with-goldfish-swarm/ ## How to generate codebase docs bottom up for an undocumented repo with Elephant Goldfish Model Repo: [google/elephant-goldfish-model](https://github.com/google/elephant-goldfish-model) | Difficulty: Intermediate | Time: 45 minutes | Basis: From the README Build documentation from the lowest modules upward, with sentinel blocks for updates. **Who it is for:** An engineer joining a repo with little documentation who needs a working map of its modules. **The problem:** Writing module documentation by hand is slow, and regenerated docs can overwrite notes people added. **The outcome:** Generated documentation for the codebase, with marked sentinel blocks so later runs update only the generated parts. ### Steps 1. Install the plugin in Claude Code with `claude plugin marketplace add google/elephant-goldfish-model && claude plugin install egm@egm` 2. Start Claude Code in the root of the repo you want to document 3. Run `/egm:egm-bootstrap` 4. Review the generated files and the sentinel block boundaries 5. Commit the generated docs and edit only outside the sentinel blocks ### Prompt to paste into your agent ```text In the repo , run the EGM /egm-bootstrap skill to generate documentation bottom up. List every file it created or changed and confirm that any existing text outside the sentinel blocks is unchanged. ``` ### Caveat The README does not say which languages or repo layouts the bootstrap skill supports, so test it on a copy of the repo first. Disclaimer: Third-party repos we don't own or vouch for. AI-generated use cases can be wrong: review everything and run at your own risk. Full text: https://dedupedai.com/disclaimer/ URL: https://dedupedai.com/use-cases/google-elephant-goldfish-model/bootstrap-codebase-docs-bottom-up/