episode-method

name	episode-method
description	Use this before interpreting anything in the corpus. Attribute behavior correctly, then rebuild work episodes as the unit of analysis.

Episode Method

Attribution First

You are analyzing human + model interactions. Never attribute the model's behavior to the human.

Classify every observed action:

Class	Meaning
USER INITIATED	The human asked, decided, or drove it
MODEL SUGGESTED	The model proposed it, human engaged
MODEL CAUSED	Model output produced the result
SYSTEM CONSTRAINT	Tooling, permissions, or environment forced it
UNKNOWN	Cannot tell - leave unknown, do not guess

Worked examples of the trap:

• The model proposes complex architecture and the human discusses it. That is not evidence the human prefers complexity.
• The model repeatedly misunderstands a request. That is not automatically evidence the human communicates poorly.
• One agent needs more explicit prompting than another. Normalize for the agent before comparing humans' prompts across them.

Analyze within each model AND across models.

Episodes, Not Messages

Individual messages are noise. The unit of analysis is the work episode.

An episode has up to ten stages: initial intention, problem framing, research, planning, execution, failures, corrections, verification, completion, later regression or reversal.

Follow tasks across multiple sessions where possible. The meaningful unit is DECISION -> ACTION -> RESULT -> UPDATE.

Extraction Schema

For each meaningful episode capture, when available: platform/model, timestamp, project, task type, intended outcome, complexity, initial framing, context supplied, success criteria set, planning performed, research performed, hypotheses considered, implementation started, major iterations, failures, corrections, model switches, tools used, validation, tests, shipped or not, later rework, later reversal, human correction required, repeated known mistake, lesson captured, lesson reused later.

Missing fields stay missing. Do not create false precision.

One-Line Memory

Attribute first. Episodes second. Messages last.