| name | alignment-check |
| description | Evaluate a decision against the user's stated principles + related past thinking. Loads principles from YAML, matches by keyword, surfaces semantically similar prior decisions. |
| layer | L3 |
| reads | ["principles.yaml","L1.embeddings","L0.all_conversations"] |
| writes | [] |
| citations | required |
| determinism | temporal |
| allowed-tools | mcp__my-brain__alignment_check |
alignment-check — L3 principle/decision fusion
Framework context
L3 fusion skill that joins two different substrates: the user's stated principles (YAML file) + their past thinking (L1 vector search). Produces an evaluation surface for a pending decision. The user interprets — this skill surfaces the relevant material.
When to invoke
- User is about to make a decision and wants a principles gut-check
- Paired with switching-cost when the decision involves abandoning a domain
- Before any irreversible action (hiring, contract signing, technology stack commitment)
Input
decision: str # the decision under consideration, natural-language
Output contract
## 🎯 Alignment Check: "{decision (truncated 80ch)}"
### Relevant principles (top 3)
- **{principle_name}**: {definition truncated 200ch}
*core formula: {formula}*
- ...
### Related past thinking (top 5)
- [{date}] **{conversation_title}** [conv_id]
> {300ch preview}
### Surface, do not decide
The user reconciles principles with past thinking. This skill does not return a verdict.
Does NOT do
- Return a verdict (aligned / misaligned) — user decides
- Weigh principles against each other
- Fabricate principles if YAML is absent — return "no principles file configured"
- Cache results (temporal — same decision text may match different principles over time as the YAML evolves)
Principles matching
- Dict form: iterates key/value pairs, matches by name+definition contains any word from decision (length > 4)
- List form: same matching on name+definition+description fields
- Max 3 principles surfaced, truncated to 200ch each
Semantic search threshold
min_sim=0.35 (stricter than tunnel-state's 0.3 — fewer but higher-quality past-thinking matches).
Verification checklist
