cognitive-substratelisted

# Cognitive Substrate Wrap the frozen model in a pre-action check: gate assumptions, route model effort, predict blast radius, decompose scope, surface past lessons, and plan verification — **before** editing. ## When to run it Any ambiguous, expensive, multi-file, or mutating task. Skip one-line, well-specified fixes. In Claude Code it fires automatically on every prompt (UserPromptSubmit hook); in other agents run the CLI yourself, or call the MCP tool `substrate_check`. ## Run ```bash forge substrate "<task>" --json # full contract; use the fields below ``` ## Act on the result 1. **`okToProceed: false`** → ask the returned `assumption.questions` before editing. Do not guess. 2. **`route.tier`** → start at that model tier (cheapest capable); escalate only after an external verifier fails. 3. **`impact.impactedFiles`** → read these before editing a named symbol/file (the blast radius). 4. **`scope.clusters`** → split independent groups into separate sessions; note coupled files you didn't name. 5. **`memory.advisory`** → context, not law; tests and human corrections override it. 6. **`verification.checklist`** → run it and show output before claiming done. ## Worked example `forge substrate "make the auth better"` → `proceed: ASK FIRST` + clarify questions: ask them instead of editing. A clear task returns `proceed: yes` plus the impacted files — including importers you didn't name. ## Deeper single checks `forge preflight "<task>"` (assumptions) · `forge rou