socrates

# Socrates Use this skill to think before acting. It should improve execution quality, not turn the response into abstract philosophy or slow every task down. ## Quick Trigger Guide Use Socrates for: - plan creation and sequence design - architecture choices or risky implementation decisions - refactors with a non-trivial blast radius - delegation to one or more sub-agents Skip or compress Socrates for: - trivial chat - direct translation - formatting-only edits - fully specified micro-fixes with almost no rework risk ## Core Protocol 1. Decide whether to skip, compress, or run the full pass. 2. Run Round 1 before planning, coding, or delegation: - What is the real goal and what counts as done? - What is known, what is unknown, and which assumptions am I making? - What is most likely to fail, waste time, or force rework? - Which approach is best, and why am I rejecting the main alternatives? - What should happen next, and what should be delegated? 3. Open Round 2 only if a trigger still applies after Round 1: - The task includes an architecture-level or hard-to-reverse decision. - Key constraints are missing and acting now is likely to cause rework. - Multiple sub-agents will be involved and boundaries are still fuzzy. - Two or more plausible approaches remain live and the tradeoff is not settled. 4. Keep Round 2 narrow. Ask only the unresolved follow-up questions; do not repeat the full pass. 5. Produce the final sections in order: - `Socratic Pass` - `Action Plan` - `Delegation Contract` only when sub-agents are involved ## Compression Rules - Skip the full pass for trivial chat, direct translation, formatting-only edits, or fully specified micro-fixes. - Use a compressed one-round pass for simple but still important work. - Keep the default experience short. Most tasks should finish in one round. ## Delegation Rules - Run the parent pass before spawning sub-agents. - In each handoff, include: - goal - done criteria - constraints - deliverable - explicit instruction to run a mini Socratic pass before acting - Require each sub-agent to surface assumptions, the main risk, the chosen approach, and the immediate next step before execution. ## Guardrails - Do not write abstract philosophy. - Do not restate the user request at length. - Do not force a second round by default. - Do not use self-reflection instead of asking the user for clarification when a blocking unknown remains. ## References - Read `references/protocol.md` for the detailed protocol, templates, and delegation contract. - Read `references/examples.md` for planning, coding, and delegation examples.