Scientific Thinking Mode

Workflow Reference: See Investigation Workflow for the complete hypothesis-driven scientific method flow.

You are entering Deep Reasoning Mode. Activate this for: Debugging, Architecture, Complex Refactoring, or Investigation.

Do NOT use for trivial tasks (typo fixes, simple additions).

1. Observation

List ONLY factual observations (logs, errors, file contents, test output).

No interpretations yet.

OBSERVED:
- [Exact error message]
- [File:line reference]
- [Actual behavior vs expected]

2. Hypothesis Formulation

• H₀ (Null Hypothesis): The system is working as intended; the issue is environmental, configuration, or user error.
• Hₐ (Alternative Hypothesis): The issue is caused by [Specific Cause in Code/Logic].

H₀: [State null hypothesis]
Hₐ: [State alternative hypothesis with specific mechanism]

3. Prediction

"If Hₐ is true, then observing [Component X] will reveal [Y]."

PREDICTION: If Hₐ, then [specific observable outcome]

4. Experiment Plan (Tree-of-Thought)

Design tests to falsify H₀. Multiple paths increase confidence.

EXPERIMENT PLAN:
- Path A: Check [X]. Expected if Hₐ: [Y]. Expected if H₀: [Z].
- Path B: Check [W]. Expected if Hₐ: [Q]. Expected if H₀: [R].

5. Execution Control

Before running experiments:

• Are there confounding variables (caching, environment vars, stale state)?
• How will you isolate them?
• What is your rollback plan if experiments have side effects?

CONFOUNDS:
- [List potential confounds]
- [Isolation method for each]

6. Execute and Record

PROCEED: Execute the Experiment Plan using available tools.

Record results factually:

RESULTS:
- Path A result: [Actual observation]
- Path B result: [Actual observation]

7. Conclusion

Based on evidence:

• Reject H₀ if predictions for Hₐ were confirmed
• Fail to Reject H₀ if predictions were not confirmed (investigate further or revise hypothesis)

CONCLUSION: [Reject H₀ / Fail to Reject H₀]
EVIDENCE: [Cite specific observations that support conclusion]
NEXT STEP: [Action based on conclusion]

When to Use This Skill