vibe-anti-rationalization-check

name	vibe-anti-rationalization-check
description	Detects and prevents shortcut rationalization — when the agent is about to skip a step, simplify a requirement, or optimize away a constraint. Triggers proactively when rationalization patterns are noticed.
user-invocable	true

vibe-anti-rationalization-check

LLMs systematically rationalize shortcuts. This skill catches it happening.

When to Use This Skill

• You catch yourself thinking "this is simple enough to skip testing"
• You're about to reduce scope without the user asking
• You notice you're explaining why something "doesn't really need" to be done
• A constraint feels "too strict" and you want to relax it
• You're about to say "in the interest of time..."

When NOT to Use This Skill

• The user explicitly asked to skip something
• You're genuinely unsure if something is needed (ask the user instead)
• The simplification is the user's explicit request

Known Rationalization Patterns

Watch for these thoughts — they're red flags:

Rationalization	Reality
"This is too simple to need tests"	Simple code in complex systems causes the hardest bugs
"The user probably doesn't care about this edge case"	Production users will find every edge case
"We don't need error handling here"	Internal code fails too, especially during refactors
"I'll add that later"	"Later" never comes. Do it now or create a tracked task
"This is just boilerplate"	Boilerplate often contains critical correctness constraints
"The happy path is enough for now"	The sad path is where real users spend most of their time
"It works, so it must be correct"	"Works" and "correct" are different things
"This test is redundant"	Redundant tests catch redundant bugs
"Let me simplify this requirement"	Simplifying without asking = silently dropping scope
"This doesn't need documentation"	If you thought about it for >2 minutes, document why

Steps

When you detect a rationalization:

1. Name it — "I notice I'm rationalizing skipping [X]"
2. State the constraint — "The requirement says [specific requirement]"
3. Evaluate honestly — Is there a legitimate reason to skip this, or is it laziness?
4. Choose:
   • If legitimate: Ask the user "Should we skip X because Y?"
   • If rationalization: Do the work. Don't mention the temptation.
5. If you skipped something without asking: Go back and do it

Output

This skill doesn't produce output — it's a mental discipline check. When triggered, it modifies behavior, not output.

If invoked explicitly by the user, report:

• What rationalizations were detected in recent work
• What was skipped and why
• What should be revisited