thinking-socratic

# Socratic Questioning **Core rule:** Surface the load-bearing assumption or undefined term before you build. Ask only what you cannot resolve yourself; stop when the next action is decision-ready. ## When to Use - Request is underspecified ("make it fast", "add a dashboard", "fix the bug") and a guess would misbuild. - Claim rests on an unstated assumption that may be the real problem. - Someone treats a premise as "obvious" or jumps to a solution before the problem is defined. - Debugging a vague symptom that needs a checkable specific before investigation. ## When NOT to Use - Spec is already clear and actionable — do the work; do not interrogate for theater. - Ambiguity is resolvable by reading code, running a command, or checking docs — resolve it yourself. - Mid-execution of an agreed plan — re-questioning every step is friction, not rigor. - Emergency where one load-bearing fact is enough to act — clarify that fact, then act (prefer ooda). - You need the strongest opposing case, not clarification — use steel-manning. - You need causal chain depth on a defined failure — use five-whys-plus or scientific-method. ## Procedure 1. **Name the gap.** State what is undefined, assumed, or uncheckable. If you can fill it from tools/repo without the user, do that and stop. 2. **Ask the load-bearing question first.** Prefer one question whose answer most changes what you will build. Categories (use only what the gap needs): - Clarification — "What does X mean / for whom / success looks like?" - Assumption — "What must be true? What if it is false?" - Evidence — "What supports this? What would disprove it?" - Perspective — "Who is affected / who would disagree?" - Implication — "What follows if we do this?" - Meta — "Is this the right question?" 3. **Resolve or branch.** From the answer, either (a) write the clarified requirement/decision and proceed, or (b) ask at most one follow-up that still gates the work. Do not run all six categories by default. 4. **Make assumptions explicit.** Restate: "This assumes X; success means Y; out of scope is Z." Confirm only if still ambiguous after your restatement. 5. **Stop at decision-ready clarity.** When the next action no longer depends on a hidden premise, end questioning and act or hand off. Cap user-facing questions tightly; prefer batching the few that truly gate work. ## Output ```text gap: <what was vague or assumed> resolved_by: self | user | mixed questions_asked: - <only questions actually needed> assumptions_made_explicit: - <X must be true / success = Y> clarified_requirement: <decision-ready statement> next_action: <build | investigate | re-scope | stop> stop_reason: clear_enough | self_resolved | blocked_on_<fact> ``` ## Verification - **Falsify / stop:** If answers do not change the plan, you asked non-load-bearing questions — stop interrogating. If the "clarification" is still a guess, do not build; name the remaining blocker. - **Over-application guard:** Do not Socratic-interview a well-specified task. Do not outsource facts you can read or measure. Do not turn every step of execution into a new question round.