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moai-foundation-philosopher Strategic thinking framework integrating First Principles Analysis, Stanford Design Thinking, and MIT Systems Engineering for deeper problem-solving. Use for architecture decisions or root cause analysis.
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DEPRECATED — legacy 7-Phase meta-harness. Redirects to the v4 harness Builder (/moai:harness <natural-language request>) which replaces the static 7-Phase workflow with an orchestrator-direct 4-phase Builder (ANALYZE / PLAN / GENERATE / ACTIVATE) + a manifest-driven dynamic-workflow Runner. Retained as the redirect source for backward-compat invocation paths; the 7-Phase body below is preserved as historical reference, NOT for new harness creation.
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name moai-foundation-philosopher description Strategic thinking framework integrating First Principles Analysis, Stanford Design Thinking, and MIT Systems Engineering for deeper problem-solving. Use for architecture decisions or root cause analysis.
license Apache-2.0 compatibility Designed for Claude Code allowed-tools Read, Grep, Glob, mcp__context7__resolve-library-id, mcp__context7__get-library-docs effort high user-invocable false metadata {"version":"1.1.0","category":"foundation","status":"active","updated":"2026-01-08","modularized":"true","tags":"foundation, strategic-thinking, first-principles, trade-off-analysis, cognitive-bias, decision-making"} progressive_disclosure {"enabled":true,"level1_tokens":100,"level2_tokens":5000} triggers {"keywords":["architecture","architecture decision","technology selection","trade-off","strategic","decision","analysis","design thinking","first principles","five whys","assumption","alternative","cognitive bias","root cause","framework selection","library selection","database selection","performance vs maintainability","breaking change"],"agents":["manager-strategy","manager-spec","expert-backend","expert-frontend","expert-devops"],"phases":["plan"]}
MoAI Foundation Philosopher
Strategic thinking framework that promotes deeper analysis over quick calculations. Integrates three proven methodologies for systematic problem-solving.
Core Philosophy: Think deeply before acting. Question assumptions. Consider alternatives. Make trade-offs explicit. Check for cognitive biases.
Quick Reference (30 seconds)
What is the Philosopher Framework?
A structured approach to complex decisions combining:
First Principles Analysis: Break problems to fundamental truths
Stanford Design Thinking: Divergent-convergent solution generation
MIT Systems Engineering: Systematic risk assessment and validation
Five-Phase Thinking Process:
Assumption Audit: Surface and question what we take for granted
First Principles Decomposition: Break down to root causes
Alternative Generation: Create multiple solution options
Trade-off Analysis: Compare options systematically
Cognitive Bias Check: Verify thinking quality
When to Activate:
Architecture decisions affecting 5+ files
Technology selection (library, framework, database)
Performance vs maintainability trade-offs
Refactoring scope decisions
Breaking changes consideration
Any decision with significant long-term impact
Quick Access:
Implementation Guide (5 minutes)
Phase 1: Assumption Audit
Purpose: Surface hidden assumptions before they become blind spots.
Five Critical Questions:
What are we assuming to be true without evidence?
What if this assumption turns out to be wrong?
Is this a hard constraint or merely a preference?
What evidence supports this assumption?
Who else should validate this assumption?
Assumption Categories:
Technical Assumptions: Technology capabilities, performance characteristics, compatibility
Business Assumptions: User behavior, market conditions, budget availability
Team Assumptions: Skill levels, availability, domain knowledge
Timeline Assumptions: Delivery expectations, dependency schedules Assumption Documentation Format:
Assumption statement: Clear description of what is assumed
Confidence level: High, Medium, or Low based on evidence
Evidence basis: What supports this assumption
Risk if wrong: Consequence if assumption proves false
Validation method: How to verify before committing
WHY: Unexamined assumptions are the leading cause of project failures and rework.
IMPACT: Surfacing assumptions early prevents 40-60% of mid-project pivots.
Phase 2: First Principles Decomposition Purpose: Cut through complexity to find root causes and fundamental requirements.
Surface Problem: What the user or system observes
First Why: Immediate cause analysis
Second Why: Underlying cause investigation
Third Why: Systemic driver identification
Fourth Why: Organizational or process factor
Fifth Why (Root Cause): Fundamental issue to adddess
Hard Constraints: Non-negotiable (security, compliance, physics, budget)
Soft Constraints: Negotiable preferences (timeline, feature scope, tooling)
Self-Imposed Constraints: Assumptions disguised as requirements
Degrees of Freedom: Areas where creative solutions are possible
What is the actual goal behind this request?
What problem are we really trying to solve?
What would a solution look like if we had no constraints?
What is the minimum viable solution?
What can we eliminate while still achieving the goal?
WHY: Most problems are solved at the wrong level of abstraction.
IMPACT: First principles thinking reduces solution complexity by 30-50%.
Phase 3: Alternative Generation Purpose: Avoid premature convergence on suboptimal solutions.
Minimum three distinct alternatives required
Include at least one unconventional option
Always include "do nothing" as baseline
Consider short-term vs long-term implications
Explore both incremental and transformative approaches
Conservative: Low risk, incremental improvement, familiar technology
Balanced: Moderate risk, significant improvement, some innovation
Aggressive: Higher risk, transformative change, cutting-edge approach
Radical: Challenge fundamental assumptions, completely different approach
Inversion: What would make this problem worse? Now do the opposite.
Analogy: How do other domains solve similar problems?
Constraint Removal: What if budget, time, or technology were unlimited?
Simplification: What is the simplest possible solution?
WHY: The first solution is rarely the best solution.
IMPACT: Considering 3+ alternatives improves decision quality by 25%.
Phase 4: Trade-off Analysis Purpose: Make implicit trade-offs explicit and comparable.
Standard Evaluation Criteria:
Performance: Speed, throughput, latency, resource usage
Maintainability: Code clarity, documentation, team familiarity
Implementation Cost: Development time, complexity, learning curve
Risk Level: Technical risk, failure probability, rollback difficulty
Scalability: Growth capacity, flexibility, future-proofing
Security: Vulnerability surface, compliance, data protection
Assign weights to criteria based on project priorities (total 100%)
Rate each option 1-10 on each criterion
Calculate weighted composite score
Document reasoning for each score
Identify score sensitivity to weight changes
What we gain: Primary benefits of chosen approach
What we sacrifice: Explicit costs and limitations accepted
Why acceptable: Rationale for accepting these trade-offs
Mitigation plan: How to adddess downsides
WHY: Implicit trade-offs lead to regret and second-guessing.
IMPACT: Explicit trade-offs improve stakeholder alignment by 50%.
Phase 5: Cognitive Bias Check Purpose: Ensure recommendation quality by checking for common thinking errors.
Primary Biases to Monitor:
Anchoring Bias: Over-reliance on first information encountered
Confirmation Bias: Seeking evidence that supports existing beliefs
Sunk Cost Fallacy: Continuing due to past investment
Availability Heuristic: Overweighting recent or memorable events
Overconfidence Bias: Excessive certainty in own judgment
Bias Detection Questions:
Am I attached to this solution because I thought of it first?
Have I actively sought evidence against my preference?
Would I recommend this if starting fresh with no prior investment?
Am I being influenced by recent experiences that may not apply?
What would change my mind about this recommendation?
Pre-mortem: Imagine the decision failed; what went wrong?
Devil's advocate: Argue against your own recommendation
Outside view: What do base rates suggest about success?
Disagreement seeking: Consult someone likely to challenge you
Reversal test: If the opposite were proposed, what would you say?
WHY: Even experts fall prey to cognitive biases under time pressure.
IMPACT: Bias checking prevents 20-30% of flawed technical decisions.
Advanced Implementation (10+ minutes)
Integration with MoAI Workflow
Apply Assumption Audit during /moai:1-plan
Document assumptions in spec.md Problem Analysis section
Include alternative approaches considered in plan.md
Define validation criteria in acceptance.md
Use First Principles to identify core test scenarios
Generate characterization test alternatives for legacy code
Generate specification test alternatives for new features
Apply Trade-off Analysis for test coverage decisions
Quality Phase Integration:
Include Cognitive Bias Check in code review process
Verify assumptions remain valid after implementation
Document trade-offs accepted in final documentation
Time Allocation Guidelines Recommended effort distribution for complex decisions:
Assumption Audit: 15% of analysis time
First Principles Decomposition: 25% of analysis time
Alternative Generation: 20% of analysis time
Trade-off Analysis: 25% of analysis time
Cognitive Bias Check: 15% of analysis time
Total Analysis vs Implementation:
Simple decisions (1-2 files): 10% analysis, 90% implementation
Medium decisions (3-10 files): 25% analysis, 75% implementation
Complex decisions (10+ files): 40% analysis, 60% implementation
Architecture decisions: 50% analysis, 50% implementation
Decision Documentation Template Strategic Decision Record:
Decision Title: Clear statement of what was decided
Context: Why this decision was needed
Assumption 1 with confidence and validation status
Assumption 2 with confidence and validation status
Surface problem identified
Root cause determined through Five Whys
Option A with pros, cons, and score
Option B with pros, cons, and score
Option C with pros, cons, and score
What we gain with chosen approach
What we sacrifice and why acceptable
Confirmation of bias mitigation steps taken
Final Decision: Selected option with primary rationale
Success Criteria: How we will measure if decision was correct
Review Trigger: Conditions that would cause reconsideration
Works Well With
manager-strategy: Primary consumer for SPEC analysis and planning
expert-backend: Technology selection decisions
expert-frontend: Architecture and framework choices
expert-database: Schema design trade-offs
manager-quality: Code review bias checking
moai-foundation-core: Integration with TRUST 5 and SPEC workflow
moai-workflow-spec: Assumption documentation in SPEC format
moai-domain-backend: Technology-specific trade-off criteria
moai-domain-frontend: UI/UX decision frameworks
/moai:1-plan: Apply Philosopher Framework during specification
/moai:2-run: Reference documented trade-offs during implementation
Quick Decision Matrix Simple Bug Fix: Skip Philosopher (direct implementation)
Feature Addition: Phases 1, 3, 4 (assumptions, alternatives, trade-offs)
Refactoring: Phases 1, 2, 4 (assumptions, root cause, trade-offs)
Technology Selection: All 5 phases (full analysis required)
Architecture Change: All 5 phases with extended documentation
Origin: Inspired by Claude Code Philosopher Ignition framework
Common Rationalizations Rationalization Reality "First principles analysis is overkill for this decision" Decisions that feel simple often have hidden assumptions. First principles surface them before they become bugs. "I already know the trade-offs, no need to list them" Unlisted trade-offs are invisible to reviewers. Explicit trade-off tables enable informed decisions. "Design thinking is for UX, not for backend architecture" Design thinking is about user needs. Every API has users. Empathy drives better interfaces. "Systems thinking adds no value to a single-module change" Single modules exist in systems. Missing feedback loops and coupling points cause production incidents. "I will pick the obvious solution and move on" The obvious solution is often the first one that comes to mind, not the best one. Diverge-converge explores alternatives.
Red Flags
Architecture decision made without listing alternatives considered
Trade-off table missing from design document
Root cause analysis stops at the surface symptom (one "why" instead of five)
Cognitive bias not acknowledged when defending a preferred approach
Systems diagram missing feedback loops or external dependencies
Verification 