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Run npx skillmds@latest add meleantonio/select-tractable-problem in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

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Is Select Tractable Problem free to use?

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Who published Select Tractable Problem?

meleantonio (@meleantonio) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Select Tractable Problem by meleantonio

Name: Select Tractable Problem
Author: meleantonio

Select Tractable Problem

Filter open math problems for agent attackability: prefer actively discussed problems, demote those tied to major conjectures or requiring new theory. Use before long proof runs or when the user asks which Erdős/open problems to attempt.

meleantonio dbb8483 2.6 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Select a tractable open problem

Problem selection is the first secret of the workflow: burn long compute only on problems that are cared about and plausibly within reach of current agent search, not on fortress conjectures.

Prefer

Problems with recent active discussion by working mathematicians (forums, blogs, Tao/Bloom-style commentary, seminar notes).
Sharply stated yes/no or exact-constant questions (clear success criterion).
Problems where finite checks, constructions, or elementary/analytic toolkit pieces are known to matter.
Instances where weaker order-of-magnitude results already exist (room for a sharp resolution without inventing a field).

Demote or reject

Clear special cases of RH, Twin Prime, Collatz-class, or other celebrity conjectures unless the user explicitly wants a partial conditional result.
Problems whose community notes say “equivalent to …” a major open statement.
Vague “describe the structure of all …” targets without a principal binary or asymptotic question.
Problems that triage (below) rates as needing a new theory or decades of domain-specific machinery.

AI triage prompt

Run this against one or more strong models; keep independence if using several:

You are triaging an open mathematical problem for an autonomous proof agent.

Problem statement:
[STATEMENT]

Source / community notes:
[NOTES]

Answer with:
1. Care score (0–5): how much active research attention this problem has.
2. Fortress score (0–5): how tightly it is tied to a major named conjecture.
3. Theory-need score (0–5): likelihood a solution needs a new theory vs known tools.
4. Success-criterion clarity (0–5): how crisp the yes/no or exact-target is.
5. Agent-attackability (0–5): candid estimate for long multi-agent search with
   adversarial audit, not single-shot prompting.
6. Go / Conditional / No-go recommendation with one paragraph of reasons.
7. If Conditional: what narrowed principal question would be attackable.

Decision rule

Care	Fortress	Theory-need	Clarity	Action
≥3	≤2	≤3	≥4	Go
≥3	≤3	≤4	≥3	Conditional (narrow the principal question)
else				No-go (propose alternatives)

Record the triage table in problems/<id>/STATUS.md before any long run.

---name: select-tractable-problemdescription: Filter open math problems for agent attackability: prefer actively discussed problems, demote those tied to major conjectures or requiring new theory. Use before long proof runs or when the user asks which Erdős/open problems to attempt.---# Select a tractable open problemProblem selection is the first secret of the workflow: burn long compute onlyon problems that are cared about **and** plausibly within reach of currentagent search, not on fortress conjectures.## Prefer- Problems with recent active discussion by working mathematicians (forums, blogs, Tao/Bloom-style commentary, seminar notes).- Sharply stated yes/no or exact-constant questions (clear success criterion).- Problems where finite checks, constructions, or elementary/analytic toolkit pieces are known to matter.- Instances where weaker order-of-magnitude results already exist (room for a sharp resolution without inventing a field).## Demote or reject- Clear special cases of RH, Twin Prime, Collatz-class, or other celebrity conjectures unless the user explicitly wants a partial conditional result.- Problems whose community notes say “equivalent to …” a major open statement.- Vague “describe the structure of all …” targets without a principal binary or asymptotic question.- Problems that triage (below) rates as needing a new theory or decades of domain-specific machinery.## AI triage promptRun this against one or more strong models; keep independence if using several:```textYou are triaging an open mathematical problem for an autonomous proof agent.Problem statement:[STATEMENT]Source / community notes:[NOTES]Answer with:1. Care score (0–5): how much active research attention this problem has.2. Fortress score (0–5): how tightly it is tied to a major named conjecture.3. Theory-need score (0–5): likelihood a solution needs a new theory vs known tools.4. Success-criterion clarity (0–5): how crisp the yes/no or exact-target is.5. Agent-attackability (0–5): candid estimate for long multi-agent search with adversarial audit, not single-shot prompting.6. Go / Conditional / No-go recommendation with one paragraph of reasons.7. If Conditional: what narrowed principal question would be attackable.```## Decision rule| Care | Fortress | Theory-need | Clarity | Action ||------|----------|-------------|---------|--------|| ≥3 | ≤2 | ≤3 | ≥4 | **Go** || ≥3 | ≤3 | ≤4 | ≥3 | **Conditional** (narrow the principal question) || else | | | | **No-go** (propose alternatives) |Record the triage table in `problems/<id>/STATUS.md` before any long run.

Frequently asked questions