# Critical Case Design

> Flyvbjerg critical case methodology: select most-likely and least-likely cases to maximize inferential power.

- Skill: `yogsoth-ai/critical-case-design` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add yogsoth-ai/critical-case-design`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/yogsoth-ai/critical-case-design/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: yogsoth-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/yogsoth-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/yogsoth-ai/critical-case-design

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# Critical Case Design

## Tactics

- boundary-probing
- counterexample-heuristics

## Method

1. Identify the claim's scope and conditions
2. Design most-likely case: conditions maximally favorable to claim
3. Design least-likely case: conditions maximally unfavorable
4. If claim fails in most-likely case: strong disconfirmation
5. If claim holds in least-likely case: strong confirmation
6. Report inferential power of each test

## Budget

| Size | Critical cases designed | Evaluation depth |
|---|---|---|
| S | 2 (one most-likely, one least-likely) | Surface |
| M | 4 (two each) | Moderate |
| L | 6 (three each) | Deep |

## Orchestration

1. Dispatch `parameter-space-mapping` to identify conditions
2. Dispatch `extreme-value-generation` for favorable/unfavorable extremes
3. Dispatch `breakpoint-detection` to test claim at critical cases
4. Dispatch `contradiction-detection` to evaluate outcomes

## Subagents

- parameter-space-mapping
- extreme-value-generation
- breakpoint-detection
- contradiction-detection

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## Available Tactics

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

| Tactic | When to use |
| --- | --- |
| boundary-probing | Map parameter space, generate extreme values, test at boundaries, detect breakpoints, synthesize validity envelope. |
| counterexample-heuristics | Generate counterexamples (monsters), attempt monster-barring, incorporate surviving counterexamples as lemma refinements (Lakatos method). |

## Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

| SOP | When to use |
| --- | --- |
| breakpoint-detection | Test a claim at extreme parameter values and detect the precise point where it breaks down. |
| contradiction-detection | Evaluate whether a derivation chain has reached a genuine contradiction, absurdity, or inconclusive state. |
| extreme-value-generation | Generate boundary and extreme test values for a given parameter dimension to stress-test claims. |
| parameter-space-mapping | Identify all parameter dimensions along which a claim's validity might vary. |

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