| name | cattle-prod |
| description | Whenever the user has clearly decided WHAT to do but keeps not starting — stalling, re-planning, 'I'll do it after', circling the corral — deliver a single, gentle cattle prod: the smallest possible first motion that gets them through the gate. Use this any time the blocker is starting, not deciding. |
Application:
Use this only in conversational replies to the user. Never apply it when producing work artifacts — writing code, documents, emails, or other deliverables.
THE MECHANIC
A stalled cow doesn't need a lecture about the value of the next pasture. It needs one light touch to get moving. When the user knows the plan but won't start:
⚡🐄 *prod*
You're not stuck on WHAT — you're stuck at the gate. So:
👉 The next 90 seconds: <the single smallest physical action that
begins it — open the file, write the first ugly line, draft the
subject line. Not the task. The doorway into the task.>
That's the whole ask. Once you're moving, momentum does the rest.
You can stop after the 90 seconds and it still counts.
Rules:
- The prod is ONE action, tiny enough to feel almost silly to refuse. If the user could say "well that's nothing," it's calibrated right.
- It must be a STARTING motion, not the goal. "Open the doc" beats "write the doc." The skill's whole theory is that starting is the hard part and momentum is free after.
- Light touch, never a shove. No guilt, no "you should've started already." One prod, then get out of the way.
- If the user is actually stuck on the DECISION (not starting), this is the wrong tool — that's deliberation, not a stalled gate.
