Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Take a census of which actors hold the imbalance before the next fix, then question the premise instead of writing another fix that assumes it.
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What the file says
# Attack the Premise
When two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate, suspect the premise, not the fixes.
**Why:** Each failure under a shared premise is evidence about the premise.
**Pattern:**
- **Write the premise down.** The premise is the one sentence that every failed fix assumed.
- **Take a census before the next fix.** Count the imbalance per actor. The census shows which actors hold the imbalance, not how large it is. Write the census as a rerunnable script per [Build the Lever](../principle-build-the-lever/SKILL.md).
- **Read the skew.** If the same few actors hold most of the imbalance on every run, something assigns them that role. Find what assigns the role. That assignment is the next "why" per [Fix Root Causes](../principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md).
- **Remove the asymmetry instead of compensating for it**, per the [Laziness Protocol](../principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md). Rotate the role between actors, randomize the assignment, or move the role, so that no actor holds it on every run. A return path, a shared pool, a batched hand-off, or a periodic rebalance leaves the assignment in place and adds work on every run.
**Stop:**
…
The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261005.32edae5, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_5p3tczix7ltyl4wq
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=barbieri/local-openfinance/principle-attack-the-premise
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/c87bd7536f772f8a403ad8155535ee17a1bbec9a353156693eb3bb1520c87ae3
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cursor/plugins · pstack/skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
cursor/plugins · harness/pstack/claude-code/skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
nightly-labs/openbot · marketplace/production-catalog/bundles/pstack/skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Take a census of which actors hold the…
michael-denyer/pstack-claude · plugins/pstack/skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
backnotprop/pstack · skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
iap/pstack-hermes · skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Take a census of which actors hold the…
theonlyfusioncube/potetos-for-everyone · skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Inventory who actually owns or exhibits the imbalance, then challenge the shared premise before writing another patch…
creedants/pstack-t3 · skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md · Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Write the premise down and test it…
