| name | thinking-bounded-rationality |
| description | Use when search or investigation could run forever. Set an explicit good-enough threshold first, then stop at the first option that clears it. |
| disable-model-invocation | true |
Bounded Rationality
Under finite tool, context, and time budgets, stop at the first option that meets a predeclared aspiration level. Optimize only when the good-to-best gap is worth the remaining budget.
When to Use
- Search or option comparison has no natural endpoint and could consume the turn budget.
- Multiple options would clear the requirement and further comparison has diminishing returns.
- The decision is reversible or low-stakes relative to more search.
- You are gathering context beyond what the decision needs to ship.
When NOT to Use
- Irreversible or high-stakes choices (data loss, security, migrations, public commitments) where the good-to-best gap is material.
- Correctness gates: tests, security checks, and "did the fix work?" need the right answer, not a sufficient-looking one.
- One cheap lookup would settle the fact — do it; do not satisfice past it.
- The aspiration level cannot be stated — clarify the requirement first.
Procedure
- State decision and budget. Name the choice, residual tool/context/time budget, and reversibility.
- Set aspiration before searching. Write concrete pass/fail criteria for "good enough." Do not evaluate until the threshold is explicit.
- Search sequentially. Score options in encounter order against the threshold only. Skip full matrices unless step 1 marked high-stakes/irreversible.
- Stop at first adequate. When an option clears every criterion, select it immediately.
- Handle search failure without moving the goalposts. If nothing clears after the pre-set cap, preserve the threshold and report no adequate option. Relax only a criterion predeclared as non-load-bearing, record the relaxation, and resume within a new cap; never raise the bar after failure.
- Commit. Record choice and residual uncertainty; spend remaining budget on execution, not re-ranking.
Stop condition: First option meets the predeclared aspiration level, or the search cap is exhausted with none adequate.
Output
Decision: <choice>
Aspiration: <pass/fail criteria>
Search: evaluated N; stopped at first adequate | cap exhausted
Selected: <option or none>
Residual risk: <what further search might change>
Next spend: <execution step>
Verification
- Falsify if you kept comparing after an option cleared the threshold, or invented the threshold after seeing winners.
- Falsify if a correctness gate or irreversible decision was treated as satisficeable.
- Over-application guard: if one cheap check settles a fact, look it up — do not invoke this skill.
