roundtable-debate

name	roundtable-debate
description	Structured multi-agent debate that preserves dissent with a mandatory devil's advocate and two-round cap
scope	core
user-invocable	true
argument-hint	<topic-or-document> [--rounds 1|2] [--decision required|advisory]
effort	high
version	1.0.0

Roundtable Debate

Purpose

Run a bounded debate when convergence would hide useful disagreement. Unlike agora, which drives toward consensus, this workflow preserves minority positions and requires explicit justification before dismissing them.

When To Use

• Architecture or product choices with multiple defensible paths.
• Review work where anchoring or groupthink is likely.
• Decisions where a minority risk could be more important than the majority preference.

Workflow

1. Independent-first analysis: spawn 3-5 reviewers in parallel. Do not share intermediate opinions before each reviewer submits an initial view.
2. Mandatory devil's advocate: one reviewer argues against the emerging default, even if they personally agree with it.
3. Round 1 synthesis: group findings into majority positions, minority positions, and unresolved facts.
4. Round 2 challenge: reviewers respond only to disputed claims and missing evidence.
5. Decision record: keep the final recommendation and any protected dissent.

Hard cap: two debate rounds. If the decision still depends on missing facts, stop and gather evidence instead of debating longer.

Output

# Roundtable Debate Result

## Topic
{topic}

## Majority Recommendation
{recommendation}

## Protected Dissent
| Position | Advocate | Why It Was Not Dismissed |
|----------|----------|--------------------------|
| {position} | devil's advocate | {evidence or risk} |

## Decision
{adopt | defer | reject | gather-more-evidence}

Relationship To Agora

Workflow	Goal	Best For
agora	adversarial consensus	release gates, spec approval
roundtable-debate	dissent preservation	ambiguous strategy, architectural tradeoffs

Use agora --anti-groupthink when you need consensus plus explicit dissent handling.