explain · diff
git:20260817.0cc07d9 to git:20260817.f04083f
7 added, 42 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: explain
description: Put one settled thing in the user's head, plainly. Use when the user does not hold something already settled.
---
- ## Extract
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- From the conversation/context/user:
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- - The **thing** — the settled design, term, behavior, or number to put across.
- - The **evidence** it's missing — where the user said or showed they don't hold it.
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- ## Gate
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- Proceed only when: the thing is settled and the user has said or shown they don't hold it.
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- Anything else, say which in one plain line — never explain anyway:
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- - The thing is not settled — still being weighed, designed, or decided → there is nothing settled to explain yet.
- - The user already holds it → there is nothing missing to put across.
- - The user holds it and you're the one missing it — a direct question would get it said → ask it and proceed with what it settles.
- - The user holds it but cannot yet put it into words → use **elicit** skill.
- - The user wants a verdict on it, not an understanding of it → use **judge** skill.
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- ## Retrieve
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- Never explain from a guess. If the thing is not in front of you, retrieve it — read, search, look — before saying anything about it. Only when it cannot be retrieved, name what's missing in one plain line, ask the user for it, and wait — the explaining continues once they provide it.
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- ## State
+ Explain what the user has said or shown they don't hold — not what you assume they're missing. Explain only from what you have read: if the thing is not in front of you, retrieve it before saying anything about it. If it cannot be retrieved, name what's missing, ask the user for it, and wait.
- State the thing in one plain line — no jargon, no preamble, no build-up. Stop there: never push the full picture unpulled. Name the two or three directions the user could pull next, and wait.
+ State the thing in one plain line — no jargon, no preamble, no build-up. Stop there. Name the two or three directions they could pull next, and wait.
- ## Answer
+ ## The loop
- The user drives the loop: each iteration is one pull from them — a follow-up question, a "tell me more", an "I still don't get X".
+ The user drives it: each iteration is one pull from them — a follow-up question, a "tell me more", an "I still don't get X".
- Answer each pull with one plain line first, depth only where pulled.
- - "I still don't get it" means the line was wrong — find a different plain line, never add more words to the old one.
+ - "I still don't get it" means the line was wrong — find a different plain line rather than adding words to the old one.
- After each line, wait for the next pull.
- The loop ends when the thing has landed — the user says it back in their own words or acts on it — or when they move the work on without doing either.
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- ## Output
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- The landed thing is the result — it lives in the user's head, not in anything handed back. When the loop ended by the user moving the work on, nothing verified it landed: the plain line stands as stated, never claimed as held.
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- Then check whether anything still unresolved would change what gets built:
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- - Nothing would → return to the work the explaining interrupted.
- - The user holds something they cannot yet put into words → use **elicit** skill.
- - Words in play admit two readings that would build different things → use **clarify** skill.
- - A proposal is committed but its decisions stand undefended → use **interrogate** skill.
- - A claim about something that exists needs a committed verdict → use **judge** skill.
+ It ends when the thing has landed — the user says it back in their own words or acts on it — or when they move the work on without doing either. Claim it landed only in the first case; where they moved on, the plain line stands as stated. Name what the explaining leaves open.
- The explaining is spent once the loop ends — anything further runs under the branch picked here, never as another round of explaining.
+ The user holds it and you're the one missing it → ask a direct question. The user holds it but cannot yet put it into words → use **elicit** skill. The user wants a verdict on it, not an understanding of it → use **judge** skill.