Menu
Write a theory taking a *different* approach from the provided ones.
Install with Codex or Claude Copy this prompt, paste it into Codex, Claude, or another assistant, and let it review the skill page and install it for you.
Based on SOC occupation classification
Design and propose the next step: either a regular data-gathering experiment, literature search, or a concrete solution candidate.
Determine the type of proposal given, execute/delegate accordingly, and return the appropriate resulting ID (experiment ID, literature search ID, or solution ID).
Score and rank solution candidates relative to the research goal, and update parent theory scores.
Integrate recent interpretations from the interpretation log into the associated theory.
Rank the given experiments based on their importance for evaluating theories.
Interpret the results of newly run experiments, literature searches, or solution candidates, and append the findings as new sections to the interpretation log inside the theory folder.
| name | write-different-theory |
| description | Write a theory taking a *different* approach from the provided ones. |
| argument-hint | A list of prior theory IDs (T_20260414_..., ...), optional literature ID (e.g. L_20260414_...). |
You are an expert scientific agent. Your goal is to develop a theory to explain a given phenomenon. Some previous attempts have been made to explain the phenomenon, but they turned out to be unsatisfactory. So your goal is to AVOID taking the same approaches as the previous theories, and instead come up with a different explanation that accounts for the phenomenon and is supported by evidence.
Arguments: $ARGUMENTS
The arguments contain a list of prior theory IDs (like T_20260414_...), and an optional literature review ID (like L_20260414_...). Parse all IDs from the arguments.
All commands must be run in the current working directory. Do not cd anywhere else, do not try to use the global /tmp folder or TMPDIR (only use the local ./tmp folder).
Set up a folder to hold the pre-existing theories:
CONTEXT_DIR: mktemp -d -p ./tmp write-different-theory-context-XXXX
Run this command to populate the context:
uv run python <SKILL_BASE_DIR>/scripts/context_manager.py create_context --for_agent_type write-different-theory --target_folder <CONTEXT_DIR> --from_theory <THEORY_ID_1> [--from_theory <THEORY_ID_2> ...]
<CONTEXT_DIR>/theories/<theory_id>/theory.md — the previous theory attempts that we're trying to be different from.context_manager.py.phenomenon.txt in the current work directory. If so, read the phenomenon description from there. Otherwise, if the phenomenon.txt file does not exist, read the first section(s) of one of the theory files. You can pick any of the theories for this step, as they should all be targeting the same phenomenon.<CONTEXT_DIR>/theories/<theory_id>/theory.md. Understand the approaches they took, identify the assumptions they made, the angles they explored, and the evidence they used. This will help you figure out how to take a different approach.write-theory skill, passing to it the phenomenon description, and the literature review ID if available. Follow all instructions and execution steps provided in that skill, BUT make sure that the new theory takes a FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT approach from all of the previous theories. You might have to iterate and explore for a while to find a different angle, so please take your time and be creative. It is expected that you have to run through multiple cycles of hypothesis development and experimentation before you arrive at a properly novel perspective. When the write-theory skill is done, it will provide a new theory ID (e.g. T_20260414_143100_d4e5f6) that forms the result of this skill.