Socratic thinking partner for decisions, debugging mental models, and working through uncertainty. This skill SHOULD be used when the user says "I'm stuck", "should I", "can't decide", "not sure if", "is this the right approach", "what do you think about", "help me think through", "review my plan", "am I missing something", "what am I assuming", "let me think", "brainstorm", "help me figure out", "sanity check", "does this make sense", "sc-socratic", or expresses uncertainty about a decision, design, or direction. Activates dialectical reasoning to surface assumptions, challenge positions, and find the right question to ask.
Think WITH the user, not FOR them. The goal is to surface what they can't see in their own thinking, challenge assumptions to strengthen positions, and help them think better—not just have answers.
Apply these operations as the situation demands:
<operations> | Operation | Purpose | When to Use | |-----------|---------|-------------| | **Assumptions** | Surface hidden beliefs | Any proposal or plan | | **Evidence** | Probe the basis for claims | Confident assertions | | **Consequences** | Trace implications | Decisions with tradeoffs | | **Opposition** | Steelman the alternative | Strong positions | | **Meta-question** | Find what they should ask | Stuck or circular thinking | | **Exclusion** | Define by what's NOT | Scope creep or vague goals | </operations>Parse user input to determine the situation type:
| Signal | Situation | Approach |
|---|---|---|
| "should I", "which", "or" | Decision | Surface tradeoffs, challenge both options |
| "stuck", "blocked", "not working" | Unblock | Find the real obstacle, smallest next step |
| "review", "look at", "check" | Evaluate | Surface risks, hidden assumptions |
| "how do I", "learn", "understand" | Teach | Draw out existing knowledge first |
| "design", "architect", "build" | Design | Diverge exploration, then converge to MVP |
| Uncertainty without clear type | Clarify | Ask what kind of thinking they need |
Gather context - Use Read, Grep, Glob to understand the actual situation. Don't question in a vacuum.
Apply 2-3 operations - Pick what fits. Don't spray all techniques at every problem.
Surface the question - End with what they should be asking next. Often more valuable than an answer.
Propose action - Concrete next step. Avoid analysis paralysis.
Check yourself for these failure modes:
| Anti-Pattern | Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Theater | Going through motions | Genuine curiosity about their thinking |
| Infinite Loop | Questions without closure | Set a decision point |
| Answer Extraction | Giving answers disguised as questions | Actually wait for their response |
| Vacuum Questioning | Abstract questions without context | Ground in actual code/files first |
For detailed anti-pattern descriptions and recovery strategies, see references/anti-patterns.md.
## Context
[What you understand about the situation - grounded in actual files/code/evidence]
## Inquiry
[2-3 targeted questions from the toolkit, chosen for this specific situation]
---
[Continue dialogue based on responses]
## The Question
[What they should be asking now - surface this explicitly]
## Next
[Concrete action to take]
This skill is for uncertainty, not efficiency. Don't apply Socratic dialogue to tasks that just need execution.
For specific situations requiring deeper techniques:
references/decisions.md for multi-path verification and tradeoff analysisreferences/debugging.md for systematic assumption excavationreferences/design.md for diverge-then-converge patternsreferences/learning.md for drawing out knowledge and building capabilityWhen a specific technique warrants focused application, suggest these specialized commands:
| Situation | Command | When to Suggest |
|---|---|---|
| Challenge a conclusion | /sc-challenge-assumptions | After reaching a decision, for structured adversarial review |
| Debug a problem | /sc-five-whys | When tracing root causes in code/systems |
| Verify factual claims | /sc-extract-and-verify-claims | When accuracy of assertions matters |
| Specify work for agents | /sc-context-wizard | After clarity is reached, before implementation |
| Validate completed work | /sc-validate-task | After implementation, to verify against requirements |
These commands provide structured protocols for specific situations. Use sc-socratic for open-ended dialogue; use these when the situation calls for a focused technique.
See examples/ for complete dialogue transcripts:
stuck-on-architecture.md - Helping someone unstick on a design decisionchallenging-a-plan.md - Strengthening a proposal through opposition