rut-breaker

name	rut-breaker
description	Detect when work is stuck in a low-yield loop and force a better reset move. Use when the agent is repeating the same kind of fix, relaunch, sweep, or analysis without materially improving understanding or changing the decision.

Rut Breaker

Treat A Rut As A Pattern

• A rut is not just slow progress.
• A rut exists when similar actions keep recurring without sharper understanding, better evidence, or a changed plan.
• Compose this skill with domain skills after enough evidence suggests the current loop is low-yield.

Use This Output Contract

When using this skill, report:

1. Repeating loop.
2. Evidence the loop is low-yield.
3. Stuck assumption.
4. Reset move.
5. Cheapest test after the reset.

Detect Common Ruts

• Repeated relaunches with no new diagnosis.
• Repeated parameter sweeps that do not narrow uncertainty.
• Repeated code tweaks aimed at the same symptom with no mechanism.
• Repeated notebook updates that add detail but not a sharper conclusion.
• Repeated status checks on a job that is neither clearly healthy nor clearly failed.

Apply These Rules

• Name the loop concretely.
• State what has actually been learned from the last few cycles.
• Identify the assumption keeping the loop alive.
• Choose a reset move that changes the information structure, not just the parameter values.
• Prefer reset moves that simplify, isolate, or compare against a stronger reference.

Good Reset Moves

• reduce to one slice, one case, one batch, or one toy setup
• compare against the nearest known-good artifact or baseline
• inspect the raw artifact instead of the summary metric
• freeze all but one variable
• replace a broad sweep with one discriminative check
• change from post hoc interpretation to direct instrumentation or dumping
• stop a branch and return to the strongest open decision

Avoid Fake Resets

• Do not call it a reset if it is the same move with a wider range.
• Do not add more logging unless the new log can falsify something.
• Do not launch more jobs just to feel active.
• Do not keep a branch alive solely because a lot of work has already gone into it.

End With A Concrete Pivot

• State the reset move.
• State what you are stopping.
• State the first cheap test that will tell you whether the reset helped.

References

• Read references/reset-moves.md for reset patterns and loop-detection prompts.