---
name: exploring-problem-space
user-invocable: true
description: Use whenever the user arrives with an unstructured wish, complaint, or idea that is NOT yet a requirements document — to DIVERGE, list hypotheses, and converge on the single problem worth solving before requirements begin. Trigger on phrases like "何を作るか迷ってる", "まだ要件にできない相談", "ざっくり相談したい", "I'm not sure what we should build", "help me figure out the real problem", "brainstorm the problem". This skill MUST hand off to `spec-coexist:creating-requirements` only via a written handoff memo; it MUST NOT invoke any `superpowers:*` skill (including `superpowers:brainstorming`).
---

# exploring-problem-space

Conformance keywords follow [RFC 2119](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119) / [RFC 8174](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174).

## Independence

This skill **MUST NOT** invoke or delegate to any `superpowers:*` skill. The `spec-coexist` suite owns its own divergent-phase discipline; see `../spec-coexist-router/references/independence.md`.

## Purpose

Turn an unstructured wish into exactly **one** problem statement that `spec-coexist:creating-requirements` can consume. This skill is deliberately the only place in the suite that may produce non-converging output, and even here divergence is bounded by a written handoff memo.

## When to Trigger

- The user describes a situation, not a spec ("users keep complaining about onboarding").
- The user asks "what should we build" / "何を作ればいい".
- No `docs/main-requirements.md` or subsystem requirements file exists for the topic, and the user is not yet ready to draft one.

Do **NOT** trigger when the user already knows what to build and wants the doc — that is `spec-coexist:creating-requirements`.

## Ordered Steps

1. **Enumerate pains** — list ≥ 3 concrete pains or observations the user has mentioned or implied. Ask **one question at a time** if gaps exist (see `references/one-question-per-message.md`).
2. **Identify stakeholders and constraints** — who feels the pain, who pays, what constraints (time, budget, compliance) bound the solution space.
3. **Generate ≥ 3 hypotheses** — each hypothesis is a one-sentence claim of the form *"The real problem is X, and solving it will cause Y."* Use the template in `references/hypothesis-template.md`.
4. **Write a falsification experiment per hypothesis** — the smallest check (interview, log query, prototype) that would kill the hypothesis if wrong. A hypothesis without a falsifier **MUST** be rejected.
5. **Converge on one** — pick the single hypothesis with the highest expected information gain given its falsification cost. If the user cannot pick, **HALT** and ask them to rank.
6. **Write the handoff memo** — create `docs/handoff/exploration-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md` using `references/handoff-format.md`. The memo **MUST** contain: chosen problem statement, rejected alternatives with reasons, stakeholders, constraints, open questions for requirements phase.
7. **Hand off** — instruct the user that the next skill is `spec-coexist:creating-requirements` with the memo path as input. Do not draft requirements here.
8. **Report** — emit a `Review:` outcome line: `pass` if a memo was written, `halt` otherwise.

## Hard Constraints

- **MUST NOT** produce requirements-shaped output (user stories, acceptance criteria). That is `creating-requirements`' job.
- **MUST** write exactly one handoff memo per invocation. Multiple chosen problems **MUST** be split into separate exploration sessions.
- **MUST** ask questions one at a time during steps 1–2.
- **MUST NOT** call `superpowers:brainstorming` or any other `superpowers:*` skill.

## Flow

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    Start([Unstructured wish]) --> P[List pains ≥3]
    P --> SC[Stakeholders + constraints]
    SC --> H[Generate ≥3 hypotheses]
    H --> F[Write falsifier per hypothesis]
    F --> Pick{User picks one?}
    Pick -- No --> Halt([HALT: ask to rank])
    Pick -- Yes --> M[Write docs/handoff/exploration-*.md]
    M --> Hand[Hand off to creating-requirements]
    Hand --> End([Done])
```

## References

- `references/one-question-per-message.md` — single-question discipline during divergence.
- `references/hypothesis-template.md` — shape of a well-formed hypothesis + falsifier.
- `references/handoff-format.md` — required sections of the exploration handoff memo.

## Scripts

None. The handoff memo is written by the agent directly.