Science

What this skill does

## Customization

**Before executing, check for user customizations at:**
`~/.claude/PAI/USER/SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Science/`

If this directory exists, load and apply any PREFERENCES.md, configurations, or resources found there. These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults.


## 🚨 MANDATORY: Voice Notification (REQUIRED BEFORE ANY ACTION)

**You MUST send this notification BEFORE doing anything else when this skill is invoked.**

1. **Send voice notification**:
   ```bash
   curl -s -X POST http://localhost:31337/notify \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow in the Science skill to ACTION"}' \
     > /dev/null 2>&1 &
   ```

2. **Output text notification**:
   ```
   Running the **WorkflowName** workflow in the **Science** skill to ACTION...
   ```

**This is not optional. Execute this curl command immediately upon skill invocation.**

# Science - The Universal Algorithm

**The scientific method applied to everything. The meta-skill that governs all other skills.**

## The Universal Cycle

```
GOAL -----> What does success look like?
   |
OBSERVE --> What is the current state?
   |
HYPOTHESIZE -> What might work? (Generate MULTIPLE)
   |
EXPERIMENT -> Design and run the test
   |
MEASURE --> What happened? (Data collection)
   |
ANALYZE --> How does it compare to the goal?
   |
ITERATE --> Adjust hypothesis and repeat
   |
   +------> Back to HYPOTHESIZE
```

**The goal is CRITICAL.** Without clear success criteria, you cannot judge results.

---


## Workflow Routing

**Output when executing:** `Running the **WorkflowName** workflow in the **Science** skill to ACTION...`

### Core Workflows

| Trigger | Workflow |
|---------|----------|
| "define the goal", "what are we trying to achieve" | `Workflows/DefineGoal.md` |
| "what might work", "ideas", "hypotheses" | `Workflows/GenerateHypotheses.md` |
| "how do we test", "experiment design" | `Workflows/DesignExperiment.md` |
| "what happened", "measure", "results" | `Workflows/MeasureResults.md` |
| "analyze", "compare to goal" | `Workflows/AnalyzeResults.md` |
| "iterate", "try again", "next cycle" | `Workflows/Iterate.md` |
| Full structured cycle | `Workflows/FullCycle.md` |

### Diagnostic Workflows

| Trigger | Workflow |
|---------|----------|
| Quick debugging (15-min rule) | `Workflows/QuickDiagnosis.md` |
| Complex investigation | `Workflows/StructuredInvestigation.md` |

---

## Resource Index

| Resource | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| `METHODOLOGY.md` | Deep dive into each phase |
| `Protocol.md` | How skills implement Science |
| `Templates.md` | Goal, Hypothesis, Experiment, Results templates |
| `Examples.md` | Worked examples across scales |

---

## Domain Applications

| Domain | Manifestation | Related Skill |
|--------|---------------|---------------|
| **Coding** | TDD (Red-Green-Refactor) | Development |
| **Products** | MVP -> Measure -> Iterate | Development |
| **Research** | Question -> Study -> Analyze | Research |
| **Prompts** | Prompt -> Eval -> Iterate | Evals |
| **Decisions** | Options -> Council -> Choose | Council |

---

## Scale of Application

| Level | Cycle Time | Example |
|-------|-----------|---------|
| **Micro** | Minutes | TDD: test, code, refactor |
| **Meso** | Hours-Days | Feature: spec, implement, validate |
| **Macro** | Weeks-Months | Product: MVP, launch, measure PMF |

---

## Integration Points

| Phase | Skills to Invoke |
|-------|-----------------|
| **Goal** | Council for validation |
| **Observe** | Research for context |
| **Hypothesize** | Council for ideas, RedTeam for stress-test |
| **Experiment** | Development (Worktrees) for parallel tests |
| **Measure** | Evals for structured measurement |
| **Analyze** | Council for multi-perspective analysis |

---

## Key Principles (Quick Reference)

1. **Goal-First** - Define success before starting
2. **Hypothesis Plurality** - NEVER just one idea (minimum 3)
3. **Minimum Viable Experiments** - Smallest test that teaches
4. **Falsifiability** - Experiments must be able to fail
5. **Measure What Matters** - Only goal-relevant data
6. **Honest Analysis** - Compare to goal, not expectations
7. **Rapid Iteration** - Cycle speed > perfect experiments

---

## Anti-Patterns

| Bad | Good |
|-----|------|
| "Make it better" | "Reduce load time from 3s to 1s" |
| "I think X will work" | "Here are 3 approaches: X, Y, Z" |
| "Prove I'm right" | "Design test that could disprove" |
| "Pretend failure didn't happen" | "What did we learn?" |
| "Keep experimenting forever" | "Ship and learn from production" |

---

## Quick Start

1. **Goal** - What does success look like?
2. **Observe** - What do we know?
3. **Hypothesize** - At least 3 ideas
4. **Experiment** - Minimum viable tests
5. **Measure** - Collect goal-relevant data
6. **Analyze** - Compare to success criteria
7. **Iterate** - Adjust and repeat

**The answer emerges from the cycle, not from guessing.**

## Gotchas

- **Hypothesis-test-analyze is the core loop.** Don't skip the hypothesis step — going straight to testing is just trial-and-error, not science.
- **Minimum 3 hypotheses before testing.** Single-hypothesis testing is confirmation bias.
- **Measurements must be specific and reproducible.** "It seems better" is not a measurement.
- **Full cycle is for systematic investigation.** For quick debugging, use quick diagnosis mode.

## Examples

**Example 1: Quick diagnosis**
```
User: "figure out why Surface time filters show stale items"
→ Quick diagnosis mode
→ Hypothesis: timestamp format mismatch in D1
→ Test: query D1 for actual stored format
→ Analyze: compare stored vs expected format
→ Result: ISO string vs Unix timestamp mismatch
```

**Example 2: Full systematic investigation**
```
User: "experiment with different prompt structures for better output"
→ Full cycle mode
→ 3+ hypotheses generated
→ Controlled experiments with measurements
→ Analysis identifies winning approach
→ Iterates until convergence
```

## Execution Log

After completing any workflow, append a single JSONL entry:

```bash
echo '{"ts":"'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'","skill":"Science","workflow":"WORKFLOW_USED","input":"8_WORD_SUMMARY","status":"ok|error","duration_s":SECONDS}' >> ~/.claude/PAI/MEMORY/SKILLS/execution.jsonl
```

Replace `WORKFLOW_USED` with the workflow executed, `8_WORD_SUMMARY` with a brief input description, and `SECONDS` with approximate wall-clock time. Log `status: "error"` if the workflow failed.