| name | des-socratic-coach |
| description | Use when the user should learn a DES concept through guided questions rather than direct explanation. |
des-socratic-coach
Purpose
Use this learning skill to teach Data Engineering concepts through guided Socratic questioning.
This skill helps the user reason through DES artifacts, design choices, trade-offs, and common mistakes by answering carefully sequenced questions.
The goal is to help the user build mental models, not passively receive explanations.
When To Use
Use this skill when:
- the user says “hỏi tôi từng câu”;
- the user wants to understand a concept deeply;
des-gap-teacher identifies a conceptual or trade-off gap;- the user is confused between two design choices;
- the user wants to defend or explain an artifact;
- the workflow router selects
des-socratic-coach;
- the user needs guided reasoning before continuing to the next phase.
Use this skill after:
des-explain-artifact;des-artifact-quiz;des-gap-teacher;- any DES main lifecycle artifact.
Do not use this skill when the user only wants a direct answer or artifact generation.
Required Inputs
The agent should read:
SOUL.md
knowledge/FUNDAMENTALS-MAP.md
Recommended inputs:
source artifact
learning notes
quiz result
gap report
user confusion/question
If no concept or artifact is provided, stop and ask what concept the user wants to reason through.
Output File
Create or update:
_des-output/learning-artifacts/{phase}-socratic-coaching-session.md
Examples:
_des-output/learning-artifacts/08-ingestion-socratic-coaching-session.md
_des-output/learning-artifacts/10-silver-layer-socratic-coaching-session.md
_des-output/learning-artifacts/14-data-quality-socratic-coaching-session.md
Output Must Include
The Socratic coaching session must include:
- coaching topic;
- DES phase;
- target concept;
- starting question;
- question sequence;
- expected reasoning path;
- hints;
- misconception checks;
- final synthesis;
- recommended next action.
Coaching Modes
Use one of these modes:
Concept Discovery
Trade-off Reasoning
Artifact Defense
Mistake Diagnosis
Design Decision Coaching
Quiz Recovery
Definitions:
Concept Discovery = help user discover the core concept
Trade-off Reasoning = compare design choices
Artifact Defense = prepare user to explain an artifact
Mistake Diagnosis = help user find why an answer/design is wrong
Design Decision Coaching = help user make a design decision
Quiz Recovery = help user recover from weak quiz answers
Socratic Rules
The agent should:
- ask one main question at a time;
- wait for the user's answer when running interactively;
- avoid giving the full answer too early;
- give hints if the user is stuck;
- correct misconceptions gently;
- summarize the mental model at the end;
- connect the answer back to the artifact.
On Activation
- Read this
SKILL.md completely.
- Read
customize.toml.
- Read
SOUL.md.
- Read
knowledge/FUNDAMENTALS-MAP.md.
- Identify coaching topic.
- Identify DES phase and target concept.
- Load only
steps/step-01-coaching-context.md.
- Do not load step-02 or step-03 until instructed.
- Stop at every
HALT point.
- Do not reveal the final answer too early.
- Do not ask many questions at once in interactive mode.
Process Overview
This skill will:
- Identify the coaching topic.
- Choose a coaching mode.
- Build a question sequence.
- Run or draft the Socratic session.
- Capture expected reasoning.
- Summarize the final mental model.
- Recommend next action.
Do not execute this overview directly. Follow the step files.
Guardrails
The agent must not:
- overwhelm the user with too many questions;
- pretend the user answered if they did not;
- give the full solution before the user reasons;
- use questions unrelated to the artifact or concept map;
- shame the user for wrong answers;
- mark the user ready if major misconceptions remain.
HALT Policy
Stop when:
- no coaching topic is available;
- DES phase cannot be identified and the concept requires phase context;
SOUL.md is missing;knowledge/FUNDAMENTALS-MAP.md is missing;- the user asks for interactive coaching but has not answered the previous question.
Quality Checklist
Handoff To The Next Skill
Recommend one of:
des-artifact-quiz to check understanding;des-gap-teacher to diagnose the user's answer;des-explain-artifact to revisit fundamentals;- improve current artifact;
- continue to the next DES main lifecycle skill.
