mirror of
https://github.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent.git
synced 2026-07-17 14:42:06 +00:00
d799284b15
The optional-skills copy was still the v1.0.0 constraint-dispatch skill (SKILL.md + full-prompt-library.md only). This brings it up to the current tool: a situation-routed library of 22 named ideation methods drawn from working artists, scientists, designers, and writers. SKILL.md becomes a 4-step router (extract PHASE/DOMAIN/SPECIFICITY signals → apply overrides → route phase-then-domain → resolve ambiguity), with anti-slop operating rules and an anti-default check. Adds: - 22 method files under references/methods/ — oblique-strategies (Eno/Schmidt), oulipo, scamper, lateral-provocations (de Bono), triz (Altshuller), leverage-points (Meadows), pattern-languages (Alexander), compression-progress (Schmidhuber), analogy-and-blending, pataphysics, first-principles, polya, biomimicry, volume-generation, creative-discipline, premortem-and-inversion, defamiliarization, derive-and-mapping, affinity-diagrams, jobs-to-be-done, story-skeletons, chance-and-remix. Each: when/when-not, the actual cards/principles/operators, a procedure, a worked example, anti-slop notes. - references/method-catalog.md (index + when-to-use), heuristics.md (extended decision tree), anti-slop.md (rules applied to every output), exercises.md (time-boxed exercises). - full-prompt-library.md restructured into domain-affinity sections (general / software / physical / social / lists) so the no-direction default isn't developer-biased. Frontmatter: name aligned to directory slug (creative-ideation, folding in the fix from #18084); version 2.0.0→2.1.0; platforms field preserved. Original wttdotm-derived constraint dispatch is kept as the default path. Supersedes #19295 (which targeted the pre-move skills/ path). Co-authored-by: SHL0MS <SHL0MS@users.noreply.github.com>
85 lines
5 KiB
Markdown
85 lines
5 KiB
Markdown
# Routing Heuristics
|
||
|
||
Decision tree for picking a method. Read top to bottom; first match wins.
|
||
|
||
## Phase signals — what stage is the user in?
|
||
|
||
| Signal | Method |
|
||
|---|---|
|
||
| Blank page, no domain | constraint dispatch (`full-prompt-library.md`) |
|
||
| Has a domain, no project | route by domain (next section) |
|
||
| Has one idea, want variations | `methods/scamper.md` |
|
||
| Need many ideas fast | `methods/volume-generation.md` |
|
||
| Idea too safe | `methods/lateral-provocations.md` |
|
||
| Many ideas, need to choose | `methods/premortem-and-inversion.md` |
|
||
| Have idea, want to sharpen | `methods/creative-discipline.md` (Tharp's spine) |
|
||
| Stuck mid-project | `methods/oblique-strategies.md` |
|
||
| "Is this any good?" | `methods/premortem-and-inversion.md` + `methods/compression-progress.md` |
|
||
|
||
## Domain signals
|
||
|
||
| Domain | Method |
|
||
|---|---|
|
||
| Fiction with formal interest | `methods/oulipo.md` |
|
||
| Narrative with story shape | `methods/story-skeletons.md` |
|
||
| Essay / non-fiction | `methods/defamiliarization.md` + `methods/compression-progress.md` |
|
||
| Poetry | `methods/oulipo.md` or `methods/chance-and-remix.md` |
|
||
| Lyrics / songwriting | `methods/oblique-strategies.md` + `methods/chance-and-remix.md` |
|
||
| Music / sound | `methods/oblique-strategies.md` (origin domain) |
|
||
| Visual art / sculpture / installation | `methods/oblique-strategies.md`, `methods/creative-discipline.md` (LeWitt) |
|
||
| Performance / theater | `methods/defamiliarization.md` (Brecht) |
|
||
| Site-specific | `methods/derive-and-mapping.md` |
|
||
| Engineering invention | `methods/triz-principles.md` |
|
||
| Software architecture | `methods/pattern-languages.md` |
|
||
| Algorithm / data structure | `methods/polya.md` + `methods/first-principles.md` |
|
||
| Civic / policy | `methods/leverage-points.md` |
|
||
| Org design | `methods/leverage-points.md` + `methods/pattern-languages.md` |
|
||
| Research / picking a question | `methods/compression-progress.md` |
|
||
| Attacking a known problem | `methods/polya.md` + `methods/first-principles.md` |
|
||
| Product strategy / why-does-this-exist | `methods/jobs-to-be-done.md` |
|
||
| New venture from scratch | `full-prompt-library.md` "solve your own itch" + `methods/jobs-to-be-done.md` |
|
||
| Career / what to study | `methods/derive-and-mapping.md` + `methods/compression-progress.md` |
|
||
| Habit / discipline | `methods/creative-discipline.md` |
|
||
|
||
## Mood / tone signals
|
||
|
||
| User wants | Method |
|
||
|---|---|
|
||
| Beautiful / elegant | `methods/compression-progress.md` |
|
||
| Weird / strange | `methods/pataphysics.md`, `methods/chance-and-remix.md` |
|
||
| Useful / practical | `methods/triz-principles.md`, `methods/jobs-to-be-done.md`, "solve your own itch" |
|
||
| Fun / playful | `methods/oulipo.md`, `methods/oblique-strategies.md` |
|
||
| Serious / rigorous | `methods/polya.md`, `methods/first-principles.md`, `methods/compression-progress.md` |
|
||
| Personal / intimate | `methods/creative-discipline.md`, `methods/derive-and-mapping.md` |
|
||
| Political / intervention | `methods/leverage-points.md`, `methods/chance-and-remix.md` (détournement) |
|
||
| Critical / subversive | `methods/defamiliarization.md`, `methods/pataphysics.md` |
|
||
|
||
## When to stack methods (rare)
|
||
|
||
Most invocations: one method. Stack only when:
|
||
|
||
- **Domain method + provocation.** OuLiPo + de Bono PO when the constraint alone produces predictable output.
|
||
- **Generation + selection.** Crazy 8s → premortem on top three.
|
||
- **Drift + pattern.** Dérive then affinity-map.
|
||
- **Theoretical + practical.** TRIZ identifies the contradiction → biomimicry supplies the analog.
|
||
|
||
**Anti-pattern:** stacking three+ methods. Becomes process performance rather than ideation.
|
||
|
||
## Edge cases
|
||
|
||
- **Wild prompt that fits no path** → constraint dispatch with the closest matching constraint.
|
||
- **User asks for method recommendation, not ideas** → surface 2–3 candidate methods, ask which to apply. Don't silently default.
|
||
- **High-slop terrain** ("AI ideas", "startup ideas", "habit tracker") → force `methods/lateral-provocations.md` or `methods/pataphysics.md` over the obvious method. Refuse the first 5 ideas, not 3.
|
||
- **Same question asked again** → switch methods. Variation in method = variation in idea distribution.
|
||
- **User frustrated / says everything is bad** → don't keep generating. `methods/creative-discipline.md` (Cleese open mode, Tharp scratching). Sometimes the right move is to stop ideating.
|
||
- **User wants to be talked out of starting** → premortem. Inversion. Sometimes the right answer is "don't do this".
|
||
|
||
## Anti-patterns
|
||
|
||
1. Defaulting to constraint dispatch when the user has rich domain signals. Read first.
|
||
2. SCAMPER without a base idea. SCAMPER amplifies; doesn't generate from nothing.
|
||
3. TRIZ on artistic or social problems. Its parameters are physical/engineering.
|
||
4. Leverage points on a single-creator project. Overkill — Meadows is for multi-actor systems.
|
||
5. Reaching for the most exotic method to seem sophisticated. Constraint dispatch is right most of the time.
|
||
6. Stacking methods to compensate for not picking well. Bad choice + bad choice ≠ better choice.
|
||
7. Generating finished work when the user asked for direction. Wait until they pick.
|