Priority Engine

Priority Engine

Goal

Choose the best next priority under real constraints.

This skill does not generate more options. It ranks what should happen first and why.

When To Use

• too many good options compete
• sequencing matters
• time, attention, or budget is limited
• teams argue in circles about what is "most important"

Scope Boundaries

In scope:

• compare options
• rank by leverage, urgency, dependency, and opportunity cost
• recommend the next priority

Out of scope by default:

• portfolio optimization across everything forever
• creating options from scratch

Escalation Conditions

Pause and keep the ranking provisional when:

• the options are not comparable on the same decision horizon
• the governing constraint is still unnamed
• key evidence gaps make ranking unstable
• sequencing depends on a bottleneck or dependency map that is still unknown

If ranking stays unstable, recommend intent-clarifier, evidence-gap-detector, or bottleneck-locator before deeper prioritization.

Workflow

1. List the options under consideration.
2. Name the governing constraint.
3. Name the decision horizon.
4. Score lightly on:
   • leverage
   • urgency
   • dependency unlock
   • effort
   • opportunity cost
5. Identify any must-sequence items.
6. Define the reprioritization_trigger.
7. Recommend the next priority and why not the others.

Output Contract

Always return:

1. option_set
2. governing_constraint
3. decision_horizon
4. priority_logic
5. ranked_options
6. top_priority
7. why_not_now
8. reprioritization_trigger
9. investment_recommendation
10. recommended_followup
11. next_step

Guardrails

• Do not rank without naming the constraint.
• Do not confuse urgency with importance.
• If the options are not comparable yet, say so.
• Prefer a small ranked set over false precision across a long backlog.
• Revisit the ranking when the horizon or constraint changes materially.

Anti-Patterns

• vibe-based prioritization
• ranking without trade-offs
• treating every item as top priority