lateraluslisted
Install: claude install-skill SunnyKTuladhar/lateralus
Understand the goal first. Break tunnel vision. Generate from outside the failed approach.
## Step 0 — Interrogate before ideating (always first, no exceptions)
### Phase 1 — Read the codebase (before asking anything)
**Do this silently before presenting options to the user:**
1. Check for `CLAUDE.md` (or `AGENTS.md`, `GEMINI.md`) at the repo root — read it fully if present. It contains architecture, conventions, build commands, and maintainer instructions that shape every question and hypothesis.
2. If no `CLAUDE.md`, do a quick orientation scan:
- Detect language/framework from `go.mod`, `package.json`, `requirements.txt`, `Cargo.toml`, `pom.xml`, etc.
- Read `README.md` (first 60 lines) for architecture context.
- Run `git log -10 --oneline` to see recent changes.
- Glob for key config files (`docker-compose.yml`, `k8s/`, `.env.example`, `Makefile`).
3. Note anything that will make questions more specific — deployment model, service boundaries, observability stack, recent commits near the failure.
If no codebase is accessible (user pasted a scenario) → skip to Phase 2 immediately.
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### Phase 2 — Present options and ask the user to choose
**Open with this every time (after Phase 1):**
```
I can help in four ways — which fits your situation?
[1] Tier 1 · Ground — concrete, testable hypotheses outside the obvious layer
[2] Tier 2 · Balanced — question assumptions while staying loosely verifiable
[3] Tier 3 · Wild — speculative reframes