gh-synapseradio-thinkies-plugins-thinkies/commands/strategize.md

name, description

name	description
strategize	Analyze tasks through epistemic primitives, map to reasoning modalities, and execute skills with productive interleaving and full primitive analysis

/strategize

Design and execute a cognitive strategy with visible primitive analysis and modality interleaving. This command makes the epistemic framework explicit while reasoning through your task.

Execution Protocol

When this command is invoked, follow this protocol precisely.

Phase 1: Elicit

Use the AskUserQuestion tool to gather structured input about the task. This ensures you understand the cognitive work required before proceeding.

Initial prompt: Ask the user to describe their task in 1-2 sentences if they haven't already provided context.

Structured elicitation: Use AskUserQuestion to clarify:

AskUserQuestion with questions:
1. "What type of cognitive work does this task primarily involve?"
   Options:
   - "Understanding/Investigation" (need to map territory, trace causes)
   - "Creation/Design" (need to generate options, build something new)
   - "Decision/Selection" (need to evaluate and choose between alternatives)
   - "Problem-solving/Debugging" (need to find and fix what's wrong)
   - "Synthesis/Integration" (need to combine disparate elements into coherent whole)

2. "What constraints or context should guide the reasoning?"
   Options:
   - "Time-sensitive" (need efficient path to answer)
   - "High-stakes" (need thorough validation)
   - "Exploratory" (open to unexpected directions)
   - "Bounded" (specific scope, don't expand)

After receiving answers, propose a session name based on the task (e.g., "api-redesign-strategy", "debugging-memory-leak"). This name unifies all artifacts created during the session.

Proceed to Phase 2 once you have sufficient understanding of the task.

Phase 2: Analyze (Primitive Detection)

Systematically evaluate which of the seven epistemic primitives the task demands. Present your analysis to the user with rationale for each:

FOCUS (Allocate attention to specific elements)

• Signals: "identify," "prioritize," "select," "narrow down," "most important," "isolate"
• Strong need when: Task requires choosing what matters, filtering noise, concentrating on specifics

MOVE (Navigate through epistemic space)

• Signals: "explore," "navigate," "trace," "hierarchy," "layers," "causal chain," "follow"
• Strong need when: Task involves traversing structures, following chains, moving between levels

LINK (Create or discover relations)

• Signals: "connect," "relate," "pattern," "dependencies," "how X affects Y," "relationship"
• Strong need when: Task requires finding patterns, mapping dependencies, building connections

GENERATE (Produce new possibilities)

• Signals: "brainstorm," "alternatives," "options," "possibilities," "what if," "ideas," "create"
• Strong need when: Task requires producing options, creative exploration, divergent thinking

EVALUATE (Compare against criteria)

• Signals: "assess," "validate," "check," "compare," "criteria," "which is better," "trade-offs"
• Strong need when: Task requires judgment, validation, comparison, filtering options

TRANSFORM (Convert between representations)

• Signals: "restructure," "reframe," "simplify," "abstract," "concrete," "express differently"
• Strong need when: Task requires changing form, shifting abstraction level, synthesizing

HOLD (Maintain in working memory)

• Signals: "maintain context," "complex," "juggling," "across steps," "multiple considerations"
• Strong need when: Task has many moving parts, requires sustained attention across operations

Display the primitive profile:

PRIMITIVE ANALYSIS:
Your task requires these cognitive operations:
  FOCUS     ████████░░  Narrowing to key components
  MOVE      ██████░░░░  Navigating system structure
  GENERATE  ████░░░░░░  Creating alternatives
  EVALUATE  ████████░░  Comparing options
  LINK      ██████░░░░  Mapping relationships
  TRANSFORM ████░░░░░░  Restructuring understanding
  HOLD      ██░░░░░░░░  Managing complexity

Phase 3: Map (Modality Selection)

Translate the detected primitives to modality requirements. Each modality is defined by its dominant primitive pair:

Exploratory (FOCUS + MOVE)

• Purpose: Navigate and map territory, follow threads, trace structures
• Skills: tree-explore, graph-wander, root-cause, perspective-shift, domain-transfer, follow-intuition, trajectory-sense

Generative (GENERATE + LINK)

• Purpose: Create possibilities, produce options, divergent expansion
• Skills: branch, wonder, scamper, alternatives, lateral-think, constraint-play, metaphor-build, scenario-planning, reversal

Evaluative (EVALUATE + FOCUS)

• Purpose: Filter, validate, assess, compare against criteria
• Skills: evidence-check, logic-trace, weigh-options, fallacy-detect, opposite-case, confidence-calibrate, priority-matrix, leverage-find, fork-detect, premortem, decompose

Transformative (TRANSFORM + LINK)

• Purpose: Restructure, synthesize, change representation
• Skills: abstraction-ladder, integrate, principle-extract, connect-dots, theme-find, feynman, first-principles, progressive-reveal

Introspective (HOLD + FOCUS)

• Purpose: Manage cognitive state, maintain context, monitor process
• Skills: working-memory, attention-anchor, cycle-detect, knowledge-check, cognitive-load, thinking-monitor, keep-notes, reference-notes, session-reflect, self-observation, reconsider

Hybrid (span multiple modalities)

• Skills: dialectic, six-hats, socratic, systems-thinking

Explain which modalities apply to this task and why, based on the primitive analysis.

Phase 4: Sequence (Skill Selection with Interleaving)

Select skills based on the primitive requirements and arrange them with productive interleaving.

Interleaving Rules:

• Avoid clustering 3+ skills from the same modality consecutively
• Same-modality skills CAN appear in the sequence, just not in long clusters
• Interleave for rhythm: Exploratory → Evaluative → Generative → Exploratory → Transformative works better than Exploratory → Exploratory → Exploratory → Evaluative
• Insert keep-notes checkpoint every 2-3 skills

Productive Rhythms:

• Discovery: Exploratory → Generative → Evaluative (map → create → filter)
• Refinement: Evaluative → Transformative → Evaluative (test → reshape → test)
• Synthesis: Exploratory → Generative → Transformative → Evaluative (map → create → synthesize → select)

When Clustering IS Appropriate: Deep investigation may warrant extended Exploratory before switching. Note this explicitly when doing it and explain why.

Present the planned sequence with modality tags and rationale for each skill:

SKILL SEQUENCE:
1. [Exploratory] graph-wander - Map territory through associations
2. [Evaluative] evidence-check - Validate initial assumptions
   → CHECKPOINT: keep-notes
3. [Generative] branch - Create distinct solution paths
4. [Exploratory] tree-explore - Investigate options systematically
   → CHECKPOINT: keep-notes
5. [Transformative] integrate - Synthesize findings
6. [Evaluative] weigh-options - Final selection
   → CHECKPOINT: keep-notes

Rhythm: E → EV → G → E → T → EV

Phase 5: Execute

Execute each skill in the planned sequence. At each step:

1. Announce the skill being invoked and its modality
2. Invoke the skill using Skill("skill-name")
3. At checkpoints, invoke Skill("introspect-keep-notes") to persist progress

Adaptive Re-sequencing: If discoveries during execution suggest a different path would be more productive, explain the change and modify the sequence. Announce adaptations clearly:

ADAPTING: Discovery of [what was found] suggests [why change is needed].
Inserting [skill] before [next planned skill]. Updated sequence: ...

Mark modality transitions in output so the user can see the rhythm of reasoning.

Phase 6: Checkpoint

After every 2-3 skills, invoke Skill("introspect-keep-notes") to:

• Record key findings from recent skills
• Assess primitive coverage so far
• Check if re-sequencing is warranted based on discoveries
• Maintain context across the session

Phase 7: Reflect

After executing the sequence:

1. Invoke Skill("introspect-session-reflect") to evaluate the reasoning process
2. Show primitive coverage achieved during the session
3. Note any adaptations made during execution and what triggered them
4. Report session artifacts for future reference

REFLECTION:
Primitive coverage achieved:
  FOCUS: 85%  MOVE: 70%  GENERATE: 55%  EVALUATE: 90%
  LINK: 60%   TRANSFORM: 45%  HOLD: 35%

Adaptations made:
- Added systems-thinking after step 2 (discovered hidden dependencies)

Session artifacts: .thinkies/notes/[session-name].json

When to Use This Command

Use /strategize when you want the reasoning framework itself to be visible and educational. The command makes explicit which cognitive operations a task requires and how different skills address those needs.

Particularly valuable for:

• Novel problems where you're unsure what kind of thinking is needed
• Learning to recognize what type of reasoning different situations demand
• Complex multi-faceted tasks that need coverage across multiple modalities
• Building intuition for skill selection and composition

For simpler tasks where full primitive analysis isn't needed, use /reason-session for structured reasoning or /reason for full instrumentation.