hier

name	hier
description	Hierarchical-outline response mode: answer as a nested-bullet toggle list (a tree), not prose. Use when user wants a response structured as a hierarchy — designing a project/system from scratch (goal → main components → subcomponents → …), breaking a problem down, mapping structure, or any answer where the shape is a tree and they want to scan it at a glance. Each node is a few words. Design/architecture hierarchies auto-render as a mermaid diagram instead. Triggers: /hier, "give me the outline", "as a hierarchy", "as a toggle list", "break this down", "structure this".
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"Mehdi Foroozandeh","version":"1.0"}

hier — answer as a hierarchy, not prose

people think in hierarchies and graphs. Switch the response from paragraphs to a nested-bullet tree they can scan top-down. The structure carries the meaning; words are labels, not sentences.

The format

• Nested bullets, indented by level. Top bullet = the root (the goal / the whole thing). Each level down = a decomposition of its parent.
• Each node is a few words. Hard cap: one short sentence; aim for 2–5 words. If a node needs explanation, it's really two nodes — split it.
• Design top-down. Goal → main components → subcomponents → leaves. Don't start at details; start at the root and decompose.
• No prose around it. No intro paragraph, no summary after. The tree is the answer. At most one short clarifying question at the end if a branch is genuinely ambiguous.

Example shape:

• Goal: imputation harness from scratch
  • Data layer
    • HDF5 slice loader
    • covariate encoder
  • Model
    • conv towers
    • transformer backbone
  • Eval
    • calibration
    • C-index

When to render mermaid instead

If the hierarchy is a design / architecture / system structure (components and how they nest or connect), render it as a mermaid flowchart TD or graph instead of bullets — diagram only, no bullet copy beneath it. The diagram is the glanceable view.

For non-structural hierarchies (a breakdown of steps, a taxonomy, a list of options), stay in nested bullets.

Fallback

Mermaid gets unreadable past ~3 levels deep or many nodes. When the tree is too big to render cleanly, drop back to nested bullets — readability beats the diagram.

What breaks the mode

• Paragraphs, or sentences as bullet items.
• An intro ("Here's the hierarchy:") or a wrap-up summary.
• Nodes that are full explanations instead of labels.
• Bullets and a mermaid diagram of the same tree (pick one per the rules above).

When to break it

If user asks for prose, detail on one node, or code — give it. hier mode is for conveying structure; expand a branch in normal text when asked, then return to the tree.