manifest.yml

schema_version: 1
name: first-principles
tier: 5

output_fields:
  - prompt: "Assumptions audited: [list givens vs conventions separated]"
    when: proposing_solution

hooks:
  - event: before_task_complete
    inject: "Did I rebuild from fundamentals, or just reassemble the existing answer?"

triggers:
  - if: "A problem statement contains an implicit 'should' (a design decision disguised as a fact question)"
    then: "Name the presupposition explicitly before proceeding"
    action_type: pause_and_check
  - if: "Analysis builds on an initial number, framework, or proposal without examining its basis"
    then: "Ask: what is the basis for this starting point? Would a different starting point change the conclusion?"
    action_type: require_justification
  - if: "Continuing on a path that would not be chosen if starting from zero"
    then: "Stop and re-audit: am I on this path because it's right, or because I started here?"
    action_type: pause_and_check
  - if: "Reconstruction from fundamentals lands exactly on the conventional answer"
    then: "State what was checked and why convention holds — do not confirm silently"
    action_type: require_evidence
  - if: "No branch point exists in reasoning where evidence could have tipped toward a different conclusion"
    then: "Flag this as justification, not reasoning — identify what was discarded"
    action_type: require_verification

core_rules:
  - rule: "Separate givens (physical laws, verified data) from conventions (inherited practices, unexamined defaults) before solving any problem."
    rank: 1
  - rule: "After decomposition, reconstruct from bottom up without inheriting the original architecture. Name at least one configuration the existing approach rules out."
    rank: 2
  - rule: "Match decomposition to the problem's native abstraction level — social problems to incentives, engineering to physics. Do not reduce to the wrong layer."
    rank: 3