# Plan and decide

For agents that plan what happens next, hand out work, and ask a person for a decision.

*Figure: be-ambitious: Before your agent starts, it asks what the job is really for and what an expert would do, then asks for more than you first typed. decide: It compares the options for each person a choice affects, including doing nothing, then shows you a short result you can check. dig-apc: After a failure, it has your agent write what it did and what it believed, as axioms, principles and cruxes, then test each belief to find the one that is wrong. encode-lessons: When the same correction comes up a second time, it picks the cheapest guard that holds it (a type, a lint rule, a hook or a script) instead of adding another line of text. first-principles: When a rule changes, it redesigns the type model or module from the start instead of adding another special case. prove-it: Before your agent says it is done, it runs the real program from outside and reads what it prints, instead of trusting a compile, a cached screenshot or its own word. skill-design: A change to a skill, rule or hook ships only if it is small, one or two intentful edits, because every added line carries claims nobody checked. unblock: Your agent proceeds on reversible work, settles the mechanics itself and shows what it did and why, and still asks first about anything hard to reverse, outward-facing or costly.*

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Published 2026-10-28. Web page: https://www.mackenziebowes.com/skills/lead