Doubt-driven development
Contract
| Field |
Bound contract |
| Trigger |
Non-trivial decision under uncertainty; correctness matters more than speed; a claim not checkable by the type system or compiler; before committing non-trivial code |
| Authority |
Read-only. No file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation |
| Side effect |
Chat output: fresh-context adversarial review findings and reconciliation |
| Done |
Every non-trivial decision named as a CLAIM and fresh-context reviewed; findings classified; a stop condition met |
Inputs
- Artifact (required): the unit under scrutiny: a code diff, function, decision proposal, or assertion plus its supporting evidence.
- Contract (required): the constraint the artifact must satisfy.
Procedure
CLAIM. Name the non-trivial decision compactly as CLAIM: "<statement>" plus WHY THIS MATTERS: <consequence>. A decision that cannot be stated that compactly is a vibe, not a decision; surface it before scrutinizing. Done when: the decision is stated as a compact CLAIM with its consequence.
EXTRACT. Isolate the smallest reviewable unit: the artifact and the contract, without the reviewer's reasoning. Passing conclusions to the reviewer invites validation of those conclusions. Decompose a 500-line PR first; the unit must fit one read. Done when: the smallest reviewable unit is isolated and fits one read.
DOUBT. Spawn a fresh-context subagent with isolated context using this adversarial prompt verbatim so it overrides any default balanced response shape:
Adversarial review. Find what is wrong with this artifact.
Assume the author is overconfident. Look for:
- Unstated assumptions
- Edge cases not handled
- Hidden coupling or shared state
- Ways the contract could be violated
- Existing conventions this might break
- Failure modes under unexpected input
Do NOT validate. Do NOT summarize. Find issues, or state
explicitly that none could be found after thorough examination.
ARTIFACT: <paste artifact>
CONTRACT: <paste contract>
Pass ARTIFACT + CONTRACT only. Do NOT pass the CLAIM: handing the reviewer a conclusion biases it toward agreement. If a reviewer's default shape cannot be overridden to issues-only, fall back to a generic subagent with the adversarial prompt. Done when: a fresh-context review is spawned passing ARTIFACT + CONTRACT only.
RECONCILE. Re-read the artifact against each finding before classifying it. Rubber-stamping the reviewer fails just as surely as ignoring it. Classify each finding in this precedence order, first match wins: (a) contract misread: the CONTRACT was unclear or incomplete, fix it and re-classify next cycle; (b) valid + actionable: real issue, change the artifact and re-loop; (c) valid trade-off: real but fixing costs more than accepting, document the trade-off; (d) noise: correct under context the reviewer lacked, note it and consider adding that context to the contract. Done when: every finding is classified with first-match-wins precedence.
STOP. Stop when the next iteration returns only trivial or already-considered findings, or 3 cycles are completed (escalate to the user, do not grind a fourth alone), or the user explicitly says to ship. If 3 cycles still surface substantive issues, the artifact may not be ready; surface this to the user. Three unresolved cycles is information about the artifact, not a reason to keep looping. If 3 cycles is obviously insufficient because the artifact is large, the artifact is too big: return to Step 2 and decompose; do not lift the bound. Done when: a stop condition is met (trivial findings, 3 cycles, user says ship, or escalation).
Nested-subagent fallback. This skill runs in the main session, where Step 3 can spawn a fresh-context reviewer. Do not run it from inside a subagent, where spawning another subagent is blocked. If that happens, surface to the user that doubt-driven cannot run nested and let the main session handle it. As a last resort only, a degraded self-questioning fallback exists: rewrite ARTIFACT + CONTRACT as a fresh self-prompt with a hard mental separator from the prior reasoning and walk Steps 1–5. This is not fresh-context review, so flag the result as degraded.
Doubt theater. Across 2 or more cycles where the reviewer surfaced substantive findings, zero findings classified as actionable means the reviewer is validating, not doubting. Stop and escalate.
Failure and recovery
- CLAIM not writable: the decision is still a vibe; return to Step 1, do not proceed to review.
- Reviewer received the CLAIM or reasoning: biased review; re-spawn passing ARTIFACT + CONTRACT only.
- Nested subagent blocks fresh-context spawn: surface to the user; use the degraded self-questioning fallback only as a last resort and flag the result degraded.
- Doubt theater (2+ substantive cycles, zero actionable classifications): stop and escalate to the user.
- 3 unresolved cycles: surface that the artifact may not be ready; do not grind a fourth alone.
- Partial-result rule: a stopped cycle with every finding classified is a valid partial result; unclassified or rubber-stamped findings are not.
- Non-mutation rule: read-only; no file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation. Re-loop changes are recommendations in chat output, not applied edits.
Output
A report listing each CLAIM, the fresh-context review findings, the classification of each finding (contract misread / valid + actionable / valid trade-off / noise), and the stop condition met — with actionable findings carrying a recommended artifact change stated as a recommendation, not an applied edit.
1---2name: doubt-driven3description: Use when a non-trivial decision sits under uncertainty and correctness matters more than speed. Returns fresh-context adversarial findings with classified reconciliation and a stop condition. Not for patch review — use review; not for plan attacks — use advocate.4---5
6# Doubt-driven development
7
8## Contract
9
10| Field | Bound contract |
11|---|---|
12| Trigger | Non-trivial decision under uncertainty; correctness matters more than speed; a claim not checkable by the type system or compiler; before committing non-trivial code |
13| Authority | Read-only. No file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation |
14| Side effect | Chat output: fresh-context adversarial review findings and reconciliation |
15| Done | Every non-trivial decision named as a CLAIM and fresh-context reviewed; findings classified; a stop condition met |
16
17## Inputs
18
19- Artifact (required): the unit under scrutiny: a code diff, function, decision proposal, or assertion plus its supporting evidence.
20- Contract (required): the constraint the artifact must satisfy.
21
22## Procedure
23
241. **CLAIM.** Name the non-trivial decision compactly as `CLAIM: "<statement>"` plus `WHY THIS MATTERS: <consequence>`. A decision that cannot be stated that compactly is a vibe, not a decision; surface it before scrutinizing. Done when: the decision is stated as a compact CLAIM with its consequence.
252. **EXTRACT.** Isolate the smallest reviewable unit: the artifact and the contract, without the reviewer's reasoning. Passing conclusions to the reviewer invites validation of those conclusions. Decompose a 500-line PR first; the unit must fit one read. Done when: the smallest reviewable unit is isolated and fits one read.
263. **DOUBT.** Spawn a fresh-context subagent with isolated context using this adversarial prompt verbatim so it overrides any default balanced response shape:
27
28 ```
29 Adversarial review. Find what is wrong with this artifact.
30 Assume the author is overconfident. Look for:
31 - Unstated assumptions
32 - Edge cases not handled
33 - Hidden coupling or shared state
34 - Ways the contract could be violated
35 - Existing conventions this might break
36 - Failure modes under unexpected input
37
38 Do NOT validate. Do NOT summarize. Find issues, or state
39 explicitly that none could be found after thorough examination.
40
41 ARTIFACT: <paste artifact>
42 CONTRACT: <paste contract>
43 ```
44
45 Pass ARTIFACT + CONTRACT only. Do NOT pass the CLAIM: handing the reviewer a conclusion biases it toward agreement. If a reviewer's default shape cannot be overridden to issues-only, fall back to a generic subagent with the adversarial prompt. Done when: a fresh-context review is spawned passing ARTIFACT + CONTRACT only.
46
474. **RECONCILE.** Re-read the artifact against each finding before classifying it. Rubber-stamping the reviewer fails just as surely as ignoring it. Classify each finding in this precedence order, first match wins: (a) **contract misread**: the CONTRACT was unclear or incomplete, fix it and re-classify next cycle; (b) **valid + actionable**: real issue, change the artifact and re-loop; (c) **valid trade-off**: real but fixing costs more than accepting, document the trade-off; (d) **noise**: correct under context the reviewer lacked, note it and consider adding that context to the contract. Done when: every finding is classified with first-match-wins precedence.
485. **STOP.** Stop when the next iteration returns only trivial or already-considered findings, or 3 cycles are completed (escalate to the user, do not grind a fourth alone), or the user explicitly says to ship. If 3 cycles still surface substantive issues, the artifact may not be ready; surface this to the user. Three unresolved cycles is information about the artifact, not a reason to keep looping. If 3 cycles is obviously insufficient because the artifact is large, the artifact is too big: return to Step 2 and decompose; do not lift the bound. Done when: a stop condition is met (trivial findings, 3 cycles, user says ship, or escalation).
49
50**Nested-subagent fallback.** This skill runs in the main session, where Step 3 can spawn a fresh-context reviewer. Do not run it from inside a subagent, where spawning another subagent is blocked. If that happens, surface to the user that doubt-driven cannot run nested and let the main session handle it. As a last resort only, a degraded self-questioning fallback exists: rewrite ARTIFACT + CONTRACT as a fresh self-prompt with a hard mental separator from the prior reasoning and walk Steps 1–5. This is not fresh-context review, so flag the result as degraded.
51
52**Doubt theater.** Across 2 or more cycles where the reviewer surfaced substantive findings, zero findings classified as actionable means the reviewer is validating, not doubting. Stop and escalate.
53
54## Failure and recovery
55- CLAIM not writable: the decision is still a vibe; return to Step 1, do not proceed to review.
56- Reviewer received the CLAIM or reasoning: biased review; re-spawn passing ARTIFACT + CONTRACT only.
57- Nested subagent blocks fresh-context spawn: surface to the user; use the degraded self-questioning fallback only as a last resort and flag the result degraded.
58- Doubt theater (2+ substantive cycles, zero actionable classifications): stop and escalate to the user.
59- 3 unresolved cycles: surface that the artifact may not be ready; do not grind a fourth alone.
60- Partial-result rule: a stopped cycle with every finding classified is a valid partial result; unclassified or rubber-stamped findings are not.
61- Non-mutation rule: read-only; no file, VCS, credential, paid, published, deployed, or remote mutation. Re-loop changes are recommendations in chat output, not applied edits.
62
63## Output
64A report listing each CLAIM, the fresh-context review findings, the classification of each finding (contract misread / valid + actionable / valid trade-off / noise), and the stop condition met — with actionable findings carrying a recommended artifact change stated as a recommendation, not an applied edit.
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