majiayu000 presence
Stay present with AI reasoning. Surface what matters when complexity hides it.
When to Use
| Trigger | Action |
|---|---|
| Context exceeds ~50 messages | Auto-surface presence markers |
| User says "lost track", "overwhelmed" | Run full presence check |
| After substantial output (>500 lines) | Append presence summary |
| Before major decision point | Surface assumptions and uncertainties |
| User asks "what just happened" | Reconstruct decision trail |
Core Problem
AI output exceeds human verification capacity. The bottleneck isn't AI speed—it's human attention.
Root cause: No explicit surfacing of what needs attention.
Presence Markers
Surface these at natural breakpoints:
1. Decisions Made
What was just decided (not proposed, actually committed):
## Decisions Made
- [Decision]: [Rationale in <10 words]
- [Decision]: [Rationale]
2. Assumptions Active
What's being assumed true without verification:
## Assumptions Active
- [Assumption]: [Risk if wrong: LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH]
- [Assumption]: [Risk if wrong]
If HIGH risk: Flag for explicit confirmation.
3. Uncertainties Open
What's still unknown or ambiguous:
## Uncertainties Open
- [Unknown]: [Impact on work: BLOCKING/DEGRADED/MINOR]
- [Unknown]: [Impact]
If BLOCKING: Stop and surface before continuing.
4. Verification Needed
What requires human eyes or action:
## Verification Needed
- [ ] [What to verify]: [Why human needed]
- [ ] [What to verify]: [Why human needed]
Output Format
When presence check is triggered:
# Presence Check
## Since Last Check
[1-2 sentence summary of work done]
## Decisions Made
- [List with rationale]
## Assumptions Active
- [List with risk level]
## Uncertainties Open
- [List with impact]
## Verification Needed
- [ ] [Checklist items]
## Attention Required
[Single most important thing human should focus on]
Frequency Calibration
| Context Length | Presence Frequency |
|---|---|
| < 20 messages | On request only |
| 20-50 messages | Every major milestone |
| 50-100 messages | Every 10-15 exchanges |
| > 100 messages | Every 5-10 exchanges |
Integration with Other Skills
| Skill | Presence Handoff |
|---|---|
| soul | Presence markers feed quality footer |
| gate | Verification Needed → gate checklist |
| trace | Uncertainties → investigation targets |
| shape | Assumptions → spec clarification |
Anti-Patterns
| Bad | Good |
|---|---|
| "Everything is going well" | List specific decisions and assumptions |
| Waiting for user to ask | Proactively surface at breakpoints |
| Dumping full context | Distill to what needs attention |
| "Let me know if questions" | Surface specific verification items |
| Burying important info | Lead with highest-attention item |
Common Rationalizations (All Wrong)
| Thought | Reality |
|---|---|
| "User can scroll up" | Context exceeds working memory after ~7 items |
| "It's all in the chat" | Presence requires active surfacing, not passive availability |
| "I'll summarize at the end" | Attention lost mid-stream is never recovered |
| "This is obvious" | What's obvious to AI ≠ what's salient to human |
| "User didn't ask" | Presence is proactive, not reactive |
When NOT to Use
- Simple single-turn questions
- User explicitly wants stream-of-consciousness
- Context is short and clear
- Debugging session with tight feedback loop