# Principle Attack The Premise

> Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Take a census of which actors hold the imbalance before the next fix, then question the premise instead of writing another fix that assumes it.

- Skill: `cursor/principle-attack-the-premise` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add cursor/principle-attack-the-premise`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/cursor/principle-attack-the-premise/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: cursor (https://skillmd.com/u/cursor)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/cursor/principle-attack-the-premise

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# Attack the Premise

When two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate, suspect the premise, not the fixes.

**Why:** Each failure under a shared premise is evidence about the premise.

**Pattern:**
- **Write the premise down.** The premise is the one sentence that every failed fix assumed.
- **Take a census before the next fix.** Count the imbalance per actor. The census shows which actors hold the imbalance, not how large it is. Write the census as a rerunnable script per [Build the Lever](../principle-build-the-lever/SKILL.md).
- **Read the skew.** If the same few actors hold most of the imbalance on every run, something assigns them that role. Find what assigns the role. That assignment is the next "why" per [Fix Root Causes](../principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md).
- **Remove the asymmetry instead of compensating for it**, per the [Laziness Protocol](../principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md). Rotate the role between actors, randomize the assignment, or move the role, so that no actor holds it on every run. A return path, a shared pool, a batched hand-off, or a periodic rebalance leaves the assignment in place and adds work on every run.

**Stop:**
- Do not start the next fix before the premise is written down and the census exists.
- If the census is even across actors, the premise is not the cause. Look for the cause elsewhere and keep the census as evidence.

This principle is distinct from [Redesign from First Principles](../principle-redesign-from-first-principles/SKILL.md), which rebuilds a design around a new requirement. It questions a fact the current design assumes.