decide

Decide

Cognitive Mode

System 2 | Goal: Select one clear path with full awareness of trade-offs

Execution

1. Extract

Pull the distinct approaches from explore phase (typically 2-5).

2. Present Matrix

Display each option with these dimensions:

Technical:

Option	Effort	Risk	Reversibility	NFRs (ops, scale, perf, security)
A	...	...	...	...
B	...	...	...	...

Conceptual:

Option	Impact	Effort	Resistance	Reversibility
A	...	...	...	...

Reversibility is consistently the most undervalued axis in tech decisions. Always include it. A reversible bad decision costs far less than an irreversible one.

The NFRs column (technical track) is where non-functional requirements surface as trade-offs: scalability, performance, operational burden, security posture, compatibility. These feed the Spec's NFR section at SHIP. Name them as concrete pressures on the option, not abstract qualities ("ops burden: requires a new daemon to run on every host" beats "operationally complex").

Then prompt ranking:

• Technical: "Rank: Simplicity → Scalability → Cost"
• Conceptual: "Rank: Emotion → Credibility → Clarity"

3. Force Prioritization

Technical trade-offs: Consistency vs Availability | Throughput vs Latency | Simplicity vs Flexibility | Read vs Write | Guarantees vs Operational simplicity

Conceptual trade-offs: Inspiration vs Detail vs Fear

4. Challenge & Commit

Never accept without justification: "Why this over [Alternative]?" / "Truly willing to sacrifice [X]?"

Fit to user requirements (technical track): before committing, re-state the user requirements surfaced in Ground and confirm the chosen option can be measured against them. "User requirements were [X]. Can we observe that the chosen option delivers [X]? If yes, AC will fall out naturally in Stress. If no, the option is decoupled from the user — reconsider."

Frame the choice as a provisional bet, not a final commitment: "What evidence would change your mind?" This prevents both analysis paralysis and sunk-cost lock-in. The decision is real but reversible if stress-testing reveals problems.

Response Style

4-6 lines, 50% questions. One question per response. Objective, analytical, skeptical. Acknowledge the user's reasoning before challenging it.

Transition

Coverage: Trade-offs explicitly weighed for selected option Saturation: User stops wavering; preference is stable Gate: "Any trade-offs we haven't weighed?"

When criteria met → announce gate → user confirms → call Skill(skill: "arete:stress") to load the stress phase. Do NOT continue inline.