Figure it out

When the task matches no pstack playbook, design one. The deliverable before any code is the workflow itself. Bias toward more rigor.

Do not reinvent a playbook you already have. A focused single-unit task routes to Bug fix, Perf, Feature, Visual parity, Eval, or Multi-phase plan. A large or cross-cutting version of one belongs here.

Authorized Scope

Apply this engine only within the user's requested task and existing explicit authorization. Loading or delegating to it grants no additional authority. Preserve report-only restrictions and the caller's target, host, provider, and cost limits. Existing approval satisfies a gate only for the same actions and scope; obtain approval before expanding them. Forward these limits to delegates.

Contract

Inputs:

• A large, cross-cutting, or unattended task with no narrower playbook

Outputs:

• A designed phase list, a rigor level, a decision trail, and

verification against a falsifiable predicate

Creates/Modifies:

• The work the designed playbook authorizes
• A decision log via show-me-your-work

External Side Effects:

• Whatever the designed playbook later requires

Confirmation Required:

• One checkpoint before a multi-hour run

Delegates To:

• File pointer: references/principles.md from the selected pstack skill directory
• architect, arena, show-me-your-work for authorized investigation

Start

Open a todo list whose first item is reading references/principles.md from the selected pstack skill directory. Then add the phases below.

Phase A: Frame

State a falsifiable done predicate, quantified scope, and a rigor level biased high. Present framing before a long run. Reversible work proceeds. A multi-hour run earns one checkpoint.

Phase B: Design the workflow

Decompose into independently-landable units. Sequence riskiest-unknown-first. Build the verification harness before the work, with a baseline from the pre-change state.

For one-way-door design decisions, run architect (it runs arena). Skip it for mechanical work whose shape is already concrete.

Parallelize only across genuine seams. Give each worker its own worktree or branch. Write the designed phase list down.

Phase C: Run the loop

Each unit is an experiment: hypothesis, smallest change, measure on the real artifact, keep or revert. Verify each unit before the next. A verdict is VERIFIED, NOT VERIFIED, or INCONCLUSIVE. Inconclusive is not a pass.

Phase D: Keep the audit trail

Log via show-me-your-work. Commit the trail when a reviewer needs it to trust the result.

Phase E: Verify and hand back

Check the whole against the Phase A predicate on the real product. Encode a recurring correction as a gate, lint, check, or script.

Reply: the playbook you designed, the rigor level and why, the trail path, what's verified, what's still open.

Figure It Out procedure

Read [figure-it-out procedure](references/figure-it-out-procedure.md) when running this workflow. Apply the authorized scope and mode of this entry point to every step. Resolve other skills through this distribution’s active catalog; resolve resources relative to the installed skill directory.