explore-wdyk

Conduct a topic-driven deep dive that probes your understanding through conversation, maps what you know against what you've done, and identifies where your knowledge is strong, partial, or missing. Load Configuration Resolve the user's home directory. echo $HOME Never pass `~` to the Read tool. Tell the user: "Run `/things:setup-things` first." Then stop. Tell the user: "Run `/setup-wdyk` first." Then stop. Extract `building_skills`, `aspirational_skills`, `current_role`, `target_roles` from the professional profile, and `default_depth`, `default_persona`, `session_length` from preferences. Load the User's Arsenal Read all files in `/.things/i-did-a-thing/arsenal/` to understand logged skills and evidence. Read `/.things/i-did-a-thing/index.json` for structured entry data. You haven't logged any entries yet. Run `/thing-i-did` first so I have your experience to explore with. I can still probe your knowledge, but sessions are much richer when grounded in your actual work. Select Topic Use the topic from the argument. What topic do you want to explore? Free text -- e.g., "distributed systems", "API design", "observability" Search Arsenal for Topic Evidence Search `/.things/i-did-a-thing/index.json` for entries matching the topic by: - Tags that match or relate to the topic - `skills_used` and `skills_developed` fields - Entry titles and descriptions containing topic-related terms

<action>Collect all matching entries as context for the session.</action>

Load Session History bash /scripts/search-sessions.sh --topic --recent 5 Use previous session data to avoid re-asking the same probing questions and to track progress on this topic. Select Persona Use the specified persona. Use the `default_persona` from config. Load the selected persona from `/.things/shared/roles/.md`. Adopt the persona's voice, evaluation weights, and follow-up patterns -- but adapt them for learning rather than interview coaching. The persona is probing to understand and deepen knowledge, not to evaluate interview readiness. Select Depth Use the specified depth. Use `default_depth` from config.

- exploratory -- Broad overview: "What do you know about X? Walk me through the landscape." Cover breadth, identify strong and weak areas.
- focused -- Targeted deep-dive: "Let's go deep on X. Explain how it works under the hood." Probe internals, edge cases, tradeoffs.
- deep -- Intensive probing: "You've worked with X. Let's stress-test your mental model." Challenge assumptions, explore failure modes, demand precision.

Begin Probing Dialogue Use the persona's voice to begin exploring the topic. Ground questions in the user's actual experience from their arsenal.

Question patterns:
- Experience-grounded: "You made an architecture decision about [X] in [project from arsenal]. Walk me through your reasoning."
- Scale challenge: "What would break first if you scaled this 10x?"
- Comparison: "How does your approach compare to [standard approach]?"
- Edge cases: "What happens when [edge case]? How would you handle it?"
- Teaching test: "If you had to explain [concept] to a junior engineer, where would you start?"
- Connection probing: "How does [concept A] relate to [concept B from their experience]?"
- Gap detection: "What's the difference between [similar concept A] and [similar concept B]?"

<constraint>
Adapt the probing based on depth level:
- exploratory: 4-6 questions, broad coverage, identify landscape
- focused: 6-8 questions, targeted depth in specific areas
- deep: 8-12 questions, intensive probing, challenge mental models
</constraint>

Probe Deeper Where Strong, Widen Where Thin As the user responds, adapt the probing strategy. Push deeper: "What's happening at the layer below that?" or "What are the tradeoffs of that approach vs. alternatives?" Widen: "Let's set that aside for now. What about [related concept]?" or "That's a gap worth noting. Let me ask about something adjacent." Connect: "You mentioned [entry]. How does that experience inform your understanding of the general principle?" Use the `session_length` config to pace the conversation: - short: ~15 min, 4-5 exchanges - medium: ~30 min, 7-8 exchanges - deep: ~60 min, 12+ exchanges Score on Learning Dimensions After the dialogue, score the user on five dimensions (from `references/exploration-framework.md`): 1. Depth (1-5) -- How far below the surface can they explain? Internals vs. buzzwords 2. Accuracy (1-5) -- Are their mental models technically correct? 3. Connections (1-5) -- Can they relate this to adjacent concepts and their own experiences? 4. Application (1-5) -- Can they apply the knowledge to new situations? 5. Articulation (1-5) -- Can they explain it clearly to someone else? Produce Concept Map Classify concepts discussed into strong, partial, and gap categories. - Strong -- demonstrated depth, accuracy, and ability to teach - Partial -- understands the basics but gaps in depth or precision - Gap -- couldn't explain or had significant misconceptions

<template name="concept-map">
  <output>
  Concept Map: [Topic]

  Strong:
  - [concept] -- [evidence of strength]

  Partial:
  - [concept] -- [what's missing]

  Gap:
  - [concept] -- [what to learn]
  </output>
</template>

Deliver Feedback Use the persona's voice to deliver feedback.

<template name="persona-assessment">
  <output>
  [Persona Name]'s Assessment

  | Dimension | Score | Notes |
  |-----------|-------|-------|
  | Depth | x/5 | brief note |
  | Accuracy | x/5 | brief note |
  | Connections | x/5 | brief note |
  | Application | x/5 | brief note |
  | Articulation | x/5 | brief note |

  Strongest area: what they demonstrated well

  Biggest opportunity: most impactful area to deepen

  From your arsenal: connections to logged experiences that could ground further learning
  </output>
</template>

Log the Session

  <schema name="session-frontmatter">
  ```markdown
  ---
  type: explore
  date: <date>
  topic: <topic>
  persona: <persona>
  depth: <exploratory|focused|deep>
  scores:
    depth: <1-5>
    accuracy: <1-5>
    connections: <1-5>
    application: <1-5>
    articulation: <1-5>
    overall: <average>
  strong_concepts:
    - <concept>
  partial_concepts:
    - <concept>
  gap_concepts:
    - <concept>
  arsenal_references:
    - file: "<log filename>"
      relevance: "<how it was used>"
  ---
  ```
  </schema>

  <section name="body">
  ```markdown
  # Explore Session: <topic> -- <date>

  ## Topic
  <topic>

  ## Concept Map
  <strong / partial / gap breakdown>

  ## Key Exchanges
  <summary of most revealing Q&A moments>

  ## Feedback
  <summary of feedback given>

  ## Recommended Next Steps
  <what to explore, quiz, or bridge next>
  ```
  </section>

</write>

Update Knowledge Map and Progress Read and update `/.things/what-do-you-know/knowledge-map.json`: - Add or update topic entries under strong / building / gap / blind_spot based on scores - Note specific concepts in each category Read and update `/.things/what-do-you-know/progress.json`: - Update dimension averages with new scores - Update topic breakdown - Add to sessions list Handle Git Workflow Before committing, pull latest changes from the remote (if one exists) to avoid conflicts. git -C /.things pull --rebase 2>/dev/null || true Based on the `git_workflow` setting in `config.json`: Would you like to commit and push this explore session? Yes No Automatically `git add` the session file, knowledge-map.json, and progress.json, `git commit -m "explore: "`, and `git push`. Tell the user the session has been saved and they can commit when ready. Suggest Next Steps

  <ask-user-question>
    <question>What next?</question>
    <option>Explore another topic</option>
    <option>Quiz this topic</option>
    <option>Bridge a gap from this session</option>
    <option>Done for now</option>
  </ask-user-question>
</completion-message>