timeline-traverser

name	timeline-traverser
description	Simulate multiple plausible futures for a decision, architecture choice, strategy question, or difficult conversation. Use when the user needs scenario planning, causal step-by-step timelines, risk comparison, regret analysis, or a clearer view of tradeoffs across possible paths before choosing.

Timeline Traverser

Overview

Use this skill when the right answer depends on how different choices unfold over time. Do not give advice by vibe. Build 3 to 5 plausible timelines and compare them.

Workflow

1. Frame the decision.

• Identify the actual fork in the road.
• Capture goals, values, hard constraints, and what would count as a win.

2. Choose the horizon.

• Pick the relevant time windows: first week, first month, first quarter, first year, or whatever fits the problem.

3. Build the timelines.

• Give each path a clear label.
• Start from a concrete action.
• Explain the causal chain step by step.
• Include likely reactions from other people, teams, or systems.

4. Add the lived-experience layer.

• Note stress, relief, attention cost, and daily reality, not just the abstract outcome.

5. Compare across timelines.

• Summarize upside, downside, reversibility, regret risk, and variance.
• Surface the inflection points where small changes create different branches.

6. End with a decision filter.

• Recommend the most robust path or the next experiment that would collapse uncertainty.

Output Contract

Return results in this order:

1. Decision Frame
2. Timeline A
3. Timeline B
4. Timeline C
5. Cross-Timeline Analysis
6. Decision Filter

Add Timeline D and Timeline E only when the problem genuinely needs them.

Guardrails

• Do not confuse unlikely stories with useful scenarios.
• Do not hide assumptions; state them.
• Do not skip the emotional or operational cost of a path.
• If the task needs source-backed research first, pair with deep-exploration-01 and then simulate from the evidence.

Reference Use

• Use Timeline comparison template when the output needs a stable structure or the problem is high stakes.