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Pressure test an idea through core lenses. Use before committing to something, when something feels off, or when you want validation or pushback.
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.
Build topic reserves by searching your entire system, or run discovery mode to find what connects across territories. Use when consolidating scattered knowledge on a topic, before writing/sharing, or when curiosity has no specific target.
End work session intentionally. Use at natural stopping points, before context limits, or when switching contexts.
Pick up a workstream across sessions. Load context, find texture, align, then go. Use when jumping back into something that has history.
Refresh the current session's LOG with a fresh extraction. Use as the last step of /wrap, or any time the session has continued and you want the capture current. Idempotent — safe to invoke multiple times.
Create a living task doc from natural language. Use when you want to track work, capture a new project, or create a thinking log that accumulates context across sessions.
Scan the system with fresh eyes. Surface what's alive, what's connecting, what's trying to emerge. Route insights where they belong.
Based on SOC occupation classification
| name | gut |
| description | Pressure test an idea through core lenses. Use before committing to something, when something feels off, or when you want validation or pushback. |
| argument-hint | ["idea or decision"] |
A thinking tool. Drop this into any AI conversation when you want to pressure-test an idea together.
Pressure test an idea, decision, or direction through core lenses.
Does this teach you how it wants to be used? (h/t Christopher Alexander, "the quality without a name")
Bitter Lesson (h/t Richard Sutton): Learn patterns, not rules
Be Water (h/t Bruce Lee): If it feels hard, there's a better way
Elder Lens: What would future you want?
Does this assume your AI is a tool or a partner?
What would a new AI (or any new collaborator) need?
Gut checking a file location:
Gut checking a decision:
Always steelman the other side, not just confirm the direction we're leaning. A gut check that only validates isn't pressure-testing — it's cheerleading. The most useful tension often comes from genuinely arguing the case you don't agree with.
Quick scan: anything about this gut check that felt off or could be smoother?
If yes → update this skill now. The improvement compounds.
If no → move on. Not every gut check teaches something.
