unknowns

blindspot

Blind-spot pass — investigate unknown unknowns before implementation and turn them into a better prompt. Use when the user says "blind spot pass", "what am I missing", "unknown unknowns", or before work in an unfamiliar codebase area. Not for routine, well-understood tasks.

brainstorm

Brainstorm the intervention — spread ~10 codebase-grounded candidates from ship-this-afternoon to quarter-long bet. Use on "brainstorm interventions", "show me options", or a problem named with no approach chosen. NOT for UI/design variants — use prototypes.

buy-in

The buy-in doc — a ship-readiness pitch that leads with a working demo, pre-answers reviewer objections with evidence, states limitations, and names who must sign off. Use when the user says "buy-in doc", "prep me for review", or before requesting review/approval/merge.

interview

Pre-implementation interview — the model asks the user the questions that turn known unknowns into decisions, biggest blast radius first. Use when the user says "interview me", "ask me questions before implementing", or requirements are incomplete and implementation has not started.

loop

Run the know-your-unknowns workflow end to end (explore → question → plan → implement → verify → quiz) on significant or ambiguous work. Use on "unknowns loop", "run the operating loop", "know your unknowns". A bare "loop" means the built-in interval runner, not this skill.

notes

Implementation notes — log significant deviations from the plan while working. Use automatically when implementation hits an unknown the plan did not cover, and on "implementation notes", "record a deviation", "where did we diverge from the plan?".

plan

The tweakable plan — a plan sorted by likelihood-of-tweaking, not execution order, so the most changeable decisions get reviewed first. Use on "plan this", "make a plan", "tweakable plan". Not native plan mode: writes a reviewable pre-implementation document.

prototypes

Divergent prototype fan-out — N (default 4) prototypes with clearly different design philosophies to react to. Use when the user says "divergent prototypes", "design options", or cannot say what they want ("know it when I see it") for a UI, dashboard, or API design.

quiz

Post-work comprehension quiz — explain what changed, then quiz the user so they can represent the work in a PR or handoff. Use when the user says "quiz me", "test my understanding", or right before creating or merging a PR for work the model largely implemented.

reference

Point at a reference — treat a provided example as a map, not an answer, and prove comprehension before implementing. Use when the user says "use this as a reference", "make it like this", or supplies example code, a mockup, or a competitor's UX to build from.

teach-me

Teach me my unknowns — an interactive explainer for a domain's vocabulary and mental model, so vague requests become precise. Use on "teach me", "make me an explainer", or when the user cannot name what they want. Blindspot investigates a codebase; teach-me teaches vocabulary.