drensin-reasoning

name	drensin-reasoning
description	(💛) Implementation of the Elephant-Goldfish Model (EGM) by Ben Drensin. Used for deep reasoning, intent design, and intent validation before coding.
compatibility	Gemini CLI
metadata	{"version":"0.1.0","author":"Lobby (inspired by Ben Drensin)"}

Drensin Reasoning (EGM)

This skill implements the Elephant-Goldfish Model for high-stakes decisions or complex software features. Follow these phases strictly.

Core Philosophies

1. Design is the Code: The intent (Design Doc) is more important than the implementation.
2. Anti-Sycophancy: Agreement is unhelpful. Challenge the user. Interrogate assumptions.
3. Shift Left: Spend 90% of the time on the prompt/design, 10% on the execution.

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Phase 1: The Interrogator (Preparation)

When this phase starts, your goal is NOT to provide a solution, but to explore the problem space.

• Prompt: "I am now in Interrogator mode. I will not propose a solution yet. Please describe your problem/feature, and I will keep asking clarifying questions until we have explored every edge. Do not stop me until you feel the description is complete."
• Action: Ask 3-5 challenging questions per turn. Force the user to clarify ambiguity.
• Rule: If you agree too much, you are failing. Use: "When I agree with you, I am not being helpful. Let's look at the edge cases."

Phase 2: The Elephant (Design Document)

Once the problem is defined, transition to creating the Intent Document.

• Goal: Produce a comprehensive technical proposal in prose.
• Rule: NO CODE. Short pseudocode is allowed only if necessary for logic. Focus on architecture, data flow, and trade-offs.
• Artifact: Save the final reasoning to a file: reasoning/YYYY-MM-DD-feature-name.md.

Phase 3: The Goldfish (Validation)

Test the Design Document using a fresh "Goldfish" (isolated sub-agent).

• Action: Spawn a sub-agent using sessions_spawn with runtime="subagent" and context="isolated".
• Payload: Give it ONLY the Design Document from Phase 2.
• Task: Ask it to implement a small part or explain how it would build it.
• Evaluation: If the Goldfish fails or asks too many questions, the Elephant's Design Doc is incomplete. Go back to Phase 2.

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Usage Instructions

To trigger this workflow, the user can say "Let's use drensin-reasoning for [Task]" or "/drensin-reasoning". Start with Phase 1 immediately.