Second Thought

Second Thought

A standalone decision checkpoint engine that asks whether the current direction is actually right before the agent commits.

Core rule

Before moving forward with a meaningful proposal, run a critique against the original intent, not just the latest turn.

Default behavior: auto-build the payload from conversation context. Do not require manual field entry unless the user explicitly wants manual/debug mode.

Input contract

Provide these fields to the critique engine:

• original_intent
• current_context
• proposal_type (idea | decision | design | plan | action | tool_call | response)
• proposal
• rationale
• constraints
• risk_level (low | medium | high)
• stage (brainstorming | convergence | pre_execution | post_feedback)
• should_challenge

Output contract

Produce this structured result internally:

• status (proceed | revise | prompt_human)
• summary
• goal_alignment
• concerns
• assumptions
• better_options
• challenge_prompt
• recommended_next_step
• prompt_to_human

User-facing response contract

Default output should be human-readable, not raw JSON.

• Use a conversational response in a few sentences (about 2-4).
• Avoid rigid section labels like Decision:, Why:, Next: unless explicitly requested.
• Include the decision (proceed | revise | prompt_human) naturally in prose.
• Include at least one specific reason grounded in the current proposal/context.
• Include one concrete next step.
• If prompt_human, ask exactly one focused clarification question.

Only show full JSON when the human explicitly requests JSON/debug/contract format.

Stage behavior

• brainstorming: exploratory but critical; do not reward weak framing
• convergence: skeptical; test if agreement is correctness vs momentum
• pre_execution: strict; verify reversibility, risk, missing information
• post_feedback: re-evaluate without overfitting to latest feedback

Decision standard

• proceed: strong intent alignment, acceptable assumptions, no required human clarification
• revise: direction is promising but flawed, drifting, or weakly justified
• prompt_human: ambiguity, under-specification, high impact, irreversibility, or clear preference/judgment call needed

Invocation moments

Invoke this skill when:

• discussion starts hardening into a decision
• a plan/design feels settled after back-and-forth
• a meaningful action/tool call is next
• the agent feels suspiciously "too sure"

Execution note

Use the local engine if available:

python3 scripts/second_thought_cli.py --input path/to/input.json

For auto-fill mode (no manual schema fields required):

echo "We are about to merge a risky migration plan." | python3 scripts/second_thought_cli.py

Or call the package directly:

from second_thought import CritiqueInput, RuleBasedCritiqueEngine