jayden-dang Why
Answer why it was shaped this way, not what it does. Evidence before narrative. Code is not intent.
Companion: /tour-system or a scan for mechanics; research for library/RFC facts.
This skill owns historical forcing functions.
Iron Law
NO INTENT CLAIM WITHOUT A CITATION OR AN EXPLICIT INFERENCE LABEL
NO SHORTCUT BY READING CODE SHAPE AS MOTIVATION
Steps
- Anchor. Name target files/symbols. Seed with
git blame/git log --follow -p/gh pr viewfor recent touches. Pass seeds to investigators. - Coverage map. List available tools/MCPs. Map each to a category: source control (always), issue tracker, long-form docs, team chat, infra observability, error tracking, product analytics. Spawn one investigator per available category in parallel (readonly tools ok; do not invent MCP access). Null result = finding. Skip only with a written reason (no MCP, or provably irrelevant).
- Synthesize. Separate investigators from the synthesizer. Load
references/epistemics.mdbeside this file and follow its tiers. Output sections in order:- The Question
- The Code in Question
- What We Found (direct evidence, cited)
- What We Can Reasonably Infer (hedged, chain explicit)
- Competing Hypotheses (if needed)
- What We Don't Know (searches that returned empty)
- Sources Consulted (one line per category, including nulls and skips)
- Present. Do not flatten hedges into confident prose.
WHEN the why is a precursor to changing the code, append Preserve / Change / Avoid / Risk constraints for planning.
Rationalizations
| Thought | Reality |
|---|---|
| "The null check proves they feared nulls" | Mechanics ≠ motivation. Find the ticket, PR, or incident |
| "One category is enough" | Default is coverage; nulls teach how the decision was made |
| "research already covers this" | research owns external facts; this owns design archaeology |
| "Baseline already complied — skip" | OVERRIDE: user required the skill |
Red Flags
- Confident "because" with no citation
- Citing the code as proof of its own intent
- Skipping investigators by anticipation
- Empty "What We Don't Know"
Done when
The note separates found / inferred / unknown, cites sources, and lists every category searched or skipped with reason.