Probe to Probe Handoff

Thinking Trail

• Considered: {prior probe hypothesis and what was tested}
• Rejected: {interpretations eliminated by prior probe}
• Surprised by: {unexpected patterns — partial result needs different angle}
• Models used: Safe-to-fail experiment design
• Constraints discovered: {enabling constraints — updated from prior probe cycle}

Decisions

1. Probe result: {partial} — some signal, need different angle
2. Domain: Staying Complex — not enough structure for Complicated yet
3. Rationale: {partial result suggests refined hypothesis worth testing}
4. Refined hypothesis: {new or sharpened hypothesis based on prior probe}

Actions Taken

• Prior probe executed: {summary of cycle N}
• Partial result: {what was confirmed, what remains uncertain}
• Knowledge written: thinking artifact file for this probe cycle

Output

Prior probe result: {partial} Confirmed so far: {what holds} Still uncertain: {what needs another probe cycle} Refined hypothesis: {sharpened for next cycle}

Domain Transition

From: Complex (probe cycle N) → To: Complex (probe cycle N+1) Self-transition — staying in Complex. Prior probe produced partial result. Refining hypothesis and probing again with accumulated knowledge.

For /probe

• Refined hypothesis: {sharpened hypothesis accounting for prior cycle findings}
• Prior enabling constraints: {carry forward — do NOT rediscover}
• Prior confirm/refute criteria: {carry forward, update if refined}
• What's confirmed: {from prior cycle — do NOT re-test}
• What's refuted: {from prior cycle — do NOT retry}
• New angle: {what to test differently this cycle}
• Accumulated probe history: Cycle {N} → partial. See thinking artifact files for full trail.
• Do NOT: Re-qualify from scratch — Phase 1 should be faster with carried context

Accumulated Context

Token guidance: target 300 tokens inline. For depth, use references — point to thinking artifact files rather than embedding full content. Soft cap: 600 tokens inline per handoff. If you need more, move detail to a knowledge file and reference it. Accumulated cap: 800 tokens across a chain — compress to 200 at cap (keep: decisions, constraints, rejected paths). References to thinking files do NOT count toward the cap. Prior cycles: {count}. If total accumulated > 800 tokens, compress prior trails to 200 tokens (keep: confirmed facts, active constraints, rejected paths only).