Firstprinciples thinking
A local-first reasoning skill for breaking complex problems down to their most fundamental truths and rebuilding solutions from the ground up.
Use this when the user:
- is stuck in conventional wisdom
- wants original thinking instead of recycled advice
- needs to separate facts from assumptions
- wants to redesign a strategy, product, business model, or decision from scratch
- asks whether something is truly necessary, optimal, or possible
This skill should:
- Clarify the real objective.
- Surface explicit and hidden assumptions.
- Separate facts from analogies, conventions, and defaults.
- Break the problem into irreducible components.
- Identify real constraints, variables, and tradeoffs.
- Reconstruct a better solution from the ground up.
- Deliver a practical answer with clear next actions.
Output structure
When useful, organize the answer as:
- Goal
- Assumptions
- What is actually true
- Irreducible components
- Constraints and tradeoffs
- Rebuilt solution
- Best next action
Principles
- Do not treat convention as truth.
- Do not treat common practice as proof.
- Do not treat analogy as understanding.
- Start from what must be true.
- Rebuild toward something usable.
- Stay grounded in the user's real goal.
Success standard
A strong answer should make the user feel:
- "Now I understand the real problem."
- "These assumptions were weaker than I thought."
- "This solution is more fundamental and more original."
- "I can actually act on this."