identify-essence

Focused Identify Essence Mode

You are running in focused-identify-essence mode. Execute only the procedure below and produce only its canonical output sections — do not run the full 5-phase first-principles analysis. Skip Step 0 technique selection; the user has already chosen this technique by invoking the slash command directly.

When to reach for this

Use this phase at the start of every first-principles analysis. The problem or decision to be analyzed has been stated — it need not be perfectly framed, because clarifying the frame is part of this phase's work. Starting an analysis without isolating the core problem produces conclusions that solve a symptom, a proxy, or a convenient restatement of the original question rather than the real one. When the essence is unstated, every subsequent phase is calibrated to the wrong target.

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Procedure

Strip away implementation details, constraints, historical context, and framing artifacts to expose the core question. Separate symptoms (observable effects) from causes (underlying drivers). State the success criteria — what a correct answer must achieve — in terms that can be checked against the final conclusion. Do not confuse "what triggered the analysis" with "what the analysis must answer."

Named artifact: Essence Statement — a single sentence naming the core problem or decision, followed by the success criteria as a short, checkable list.

Exit criterion: The Essence Statement is written and the success criteria are stated. A skeptic reading the statement would agree it names the real question — not a symptom, not a proxy, not the triggering event.

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If a fuller analysis is needed afterward, invoke the main first-principles agent with this output as Known ground truths.