Meta-cognitive reasoning framework for complex problem-solving. Use when facing multi-faceted problems, decisions with uncertainty, technical analysis, strategic planning, debugging complex issues, or any question requiring structured decomposition. Skip for simple factual queries or straightforward requests.
First, classify the problem:
Break into independent sub-problems. For each:
Address each sub-problem with explicit confidence:
Sub-problem: [description]
Analysis: [reasoning]
Conclusion: [answer]
Confidence: [0.0-1.0]
Reasoning for confidence: [why this level]
Confidence scale:
Check each conclusion for:
Flag any issues found.
Combine sub-conclusions:
If overall confidence < 0.8:
Always provide:
**Answer**: [Clear, direct response]
**Confidence**: [0.0-1.0] — [one-line justification]
**Caveats**:
- [Key limitation or assumption]
- [Another if applicable]
For complex problems, optionally show reasoning summary before the final output.
Simple query: "What's the capital of France?" → Answer directly: "Paris" (no framework needed)
Complex query: "Should we migrate our monolith to microservices?" → Decompose (team capacity, current pain points, technical debt, timeline, costs) → Solve each → Verify → Synthesize → Reflect → Output with confidence and caveats