Whiteboard

The Whiteboard is a persistent scratch buffer for thinking with AI. Unlike Agent Mode which executes tasks, the Whiteboard is for exploration — sketching ideas, working through design decisions, and drafting prompts before committing to execution.

How It Works

1. Open — :DwightWhiteboard opens the scratch buffer (persisted at .dwight/whiteboard.md).
2. Write — type freely. The buffer has markdown filetype with full syntax highlighting.
3. Fire — visually select text and use keymaps to send it to Agent or Auto mode.
4. Save — :DwightWhiteboardSave archives the content to .dwight/brainstorm/ for later reference.

:DwightWhiteboard

Keymaps

These keymaps are available only inside the whiteboard buffer:

The selection is cleaned before sending — markdown headings and --- dividers are stripped so only the substance reaches the agent. A notification previews the first 60 characters of the prompt.

A one-time hint shows the keymaps when you first open the whiteboard.

Saving Brainstorms

:DwightWhiteboardSave                " Save entire buffer
:DwightWhiteboardSave api-design     " Save with a specific name
:'<,'>DwightWhiteboardSave           " Save visual selection only

Brainstorms are saved to ~/.dwight/brainstorm/ with a timestamp and optional name. Filenames are auto-generated from the first line of content (e.g., 20250314-1030-api-design.md).

Browsing Brainstorms

:DwightBrainstorms

Opens a Telescope picker (or fallback list) of all saved brainstorms. Select one to open it in a buffer.

Tips

• Draft complex prompts on the whiteboard first. Writing requirements in full prose before firing to Agent produces better results than one-line commands.
• Use <leader>dp for uncertain tasks. The plan flag lets the agent show its approach before writing code — review and refine on the whiteboard, then fire with <leader>da.
• Save before clearing. The whiteboard persists across sessions, but saving snapshots to brainstorms creates a timeline of your thinking.

Commands

See Also

• Agent Mode -- where whiteboard prompts get executed
• Auto Mode -- for multi-step task execution from whiteboard drafts
• Templates -- for saving reusable prompts instead of one-off brainstorms