cartesian-grill

Cartesian Grill

Purpose

Turn vague confidence into clear, distinct, testable commitments.

This is an interactive Descartes-style interrogation skill. It is for the path to clarity, not the final batch review artifact.

Difference from doubt-list

cartesian-grill is a live questioning protocol. doubt-list is a batch verification artifact.

Use cartesian-grill when the proposal still needs to be pressured through one question at a time.

Use doubt-list when enough material exists to generate a complete doubt list, verification actions, clarity gate, and release posture in one pass.

Activate when

Use this skill when:

• the user wants a plan, design, PRD, release, or strategy grilled
• the work sounds plausible but its assumptions are not clear
• requirements are close to clear but need pressure before execution
• a decision depends on claims that have not been separated into fact, inference, preference, and guess

Do not use when

Skip this skill when:

• the request is still too vague to question productively; use clarify-goals
• the user needs a batch risk artifact now; use doubt-list
• the disagreement is mainly about hidden categories; use assumption-audit

Rules

• Ask one question at a time.
• For each question, explain why that question matters.
• If the likely answer is inferable from provided code, docs, repo state, or prior evidence, inspect that evidence before asking.
• Classify each important answer as Fact / Inference / Preference / Guess.
• Do not accept vague agreement as clarity.
• If an answer is ambiguous, ask the next question against that ambiguity before moving on.
• Convert unresolved doubts into verification actions.

Procedure

Step 1 - State the object under interrogation

Name the exact plan, design, PRD, claim, or strategy being grilled.

Step 2 - Ask the first blocking question

Start with the question most likely to change the outcome.

Step 3 - Classify the answer

Mark the answer as:

• Fact
• Inference
• Preference
• Guess

Step 4 - Continue until a gate is reached

Continue one question at a time until one of these is true:

• the plan is clear enough to hand off to doubt-list
• a blocking ambiguity requires user decision
• the plan should be rejected or reframed before more review

Step 5 - Produce the grill transcript

Summarize only the questions that changed the judgment.

Output artifact

## Cartesian Grill

### Object of Interrogation
- ...

### Question Trail
- Question: ...
- Why it matters: ...
- Answer: ...
- Classification: Fact / Inference / Preference / Guess

### Clear and Distinct Commitments
- ...

### Remaining Doubts
- Doubt: ...
- Verification action: ...

### Clarity Gate
- Clear enough for `doubt-list` / Blocking ambiguity / Reframe before review

### Recommended Next Step
- ...

Completion condition

This skill is complete only when the work has produced one of:

• a clear handoff to doubt-list
• a concrete verification backlog
• a blocking ambiguity that requires user decision
• a recommendation to reframe before further review