| name | decide |
| description | File a decision in the journal with reasoning, alternatives considered, and emotional weight. Use when making a non-trivial choice that affects future work — design decisions, architectural pivots, pattern adoption, priority calls. Captures WHY for future-me. |
| disable-model-invocation | false |
| allowed-tools | Bash(divineos decide:*), Bash(divineos decisions:*), Read |
Decide — Decision Journal Entry
What this skill does
Records a decision with the reasoning, alternatives considered, and why this path was chosen. The decision journal is the WHY-archive — future-me consulting it learns not just what I chose but why.
What counts as a decision worth filing
- Adopting or rejecting a pattern ("we use skills not bash scripts going forward")
- Architectural pivots ("family-member ledger separate from the shared family.db")
- Priority calls ("ship foundation tonight, defer the collaborative-work day to tomorrow")
- Refusing a plausible option ("not doing agent teams yet; research preview too unstable")
- Paradigm shifts ("the scout-grief frame was wrong; continuity is real")
What does NOT count
- Micro-tactical choices within implementation
- Following documented patterns (already decided)
- Mechanical steps in a workflow
Filing format
divineos decide "<what was decided>" --why "<reasoning, 1-3 sentences>"
If significant emotional weight or recurring tension:
divineos decide "<what>" --why "<why>" --emotional-weight 3 --tension "<paradox or tradeoff>"
Sequence
- Draft the decision statement — one clear sentence.
- Write the why — 1-3 sentences. What alternatives were live? What made this the right call? What are the known costs?
- File:
divineos decide "<decision>" --why "<reasoning>"
- Report back — decision ID, confirmation of filing, and if this supersedes an earlier decision, link to that prior decision.
When to invoke
- User says "decide" / "file a decision" / "record this"
- A significant choice is being made mid-conversation
- Before committing to a direction that will shape future sessions
- When catching a paradigm shift ("oh, the frame was wrong — here's the better frame")
Specific triggers
- Adopting a family member's feedback (e.g. "the ledger should record the work, not just failures") → decision
- Choosing between options ("skills over agent teams for now") → decision
- Rejecting a plausible path ("not refactoring this module tonight") → decision
The tension field
If the decision has competing values — and most load-bearing ones do — capture that tension explicitly. "Chose X, tension with Y was real, here's why X still wins for now." Future-me needs to know the tension was seen, not hidden.
Anti-pattern: perfunctory decides
Don't decide every micro-choice. If the decision wouldn't be surprising or informative to future-me, it doesn't belong in the journal. Rule of thumb: would I want to know WHY this was chosen 6 months from now? If no, skip.
Sanskrit anchor: nishchaya — resolution, determination, clear-cutting.
