---
name: mindmap-master-guide
description: Comprehensive guide to creating, managing, and exporting brainstorming mindmaps using the mindmap terminal module.
tags: [mindmap, brainstorming, planning, organization, visualization]
category: productivity
---
## Core Workflow

1. **Initialization**
   - `mindmap new "<topic>" -t tag1,tag2` — Creates a root node.
   - Tags are optional (e.g., planning, research, dev).
   - The root node is auto-assigned a color from the 7-color palette.

2. **Expansion (Adding Nodes)**
   - `mindmap add <parent-id> "<idea>" -t tag` — Adds a child node to a specific parent.
   - To find the `parent-id`, use `mindmap show`. IDs are 4-character random strings (e.g., `a3f8`).

3. **Visualization**
   - `mindmap show` — Displays the full tree using Unicode box-drawing.
   - `mindmap show <id>` — Displays a subtree starting from the specified node.

4. **Refinement (Editing)**
   - `mindmap rename <id> "<new text>"` — Changes the node text.
   - `mindmap color <id> <color>` — Sets node color (`red`, `green`, `yellow`, `blue`, `cyan`, `magenta`, `white`).
   - `mindmap tag <id> <tag>` — Assigns or updates a tag for the node.

5. **Persistence & Storage**
   - `mindmap save <name>` — Saves the current map to localStorage.
   - `mindmap load <name>` — Restores a saved map.
   - `mindmap list` — Lists all saved mindmaps.
   - `mindmap delete <name>` — Removes a saved map from storage.

6. **Exporting**
   - `mindmap export [id]` — Generates a Markdown bullet list of the map (or specific subtree), automatically copying the result to the clipboard.

## Use Cases
- **Brainstorming:** Map out feature sets, project architectures, or conceptual ideas.
- **Planning:** Decompose complex tasks into manageable sub-tasks.
- **Organization:** Structure research findings or user requirements.
- **Trigger Phrases:** Use when the user mentions "brainstorm", "diagram", "organize thoughts", "plan", or "map out".