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/IterativeDepth

Structured multi-angle exploration running 2-8 sequential passes over the same problem, each through a different scientific lens, to surface hidden requirements and edge cases invisible from one angle; each pass yields new ISC criteria. USE WHEN iterative depth, explore deeper,

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lifeos
19k56 skills8 agents7 commands
Install
$ npx -y skills add danielmiessler/personal_ai_infrastructure --skill IterativeDepth --agent claude-code

How it fires

How this skill gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.

  • Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.Auto-invocation is when the right skill fires by itself at the right moment, driven by a FLOW.md router and a hook, instead of you invoking it by name. It is the difference between a skill being installed and a skill actually getting used.Read the full definition →
  • You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
  • Slash command/IterativeDepth

Context preview

The summary Claude sees to decide when to auto-load this skill.

Structured multi-angle exploration running 2-8 sequential passes over the same problem, each through a different scientific lens, to surface hidden requirements and edge cases invisible from one angle; each pass yields new ISC criteria. USE WHEN iterative depth, explore deeper,

SKILL.md

IterativeDepth.SKILL.md
name: IterativeDepth
version: 1.1.16
description: "Structured multi-angle exploration running 2-8 sequential passes over the same problem, each through a different scientific lens, to surface hidden requirements and edge cases invisible from one angle; each pass yields new ISC criteria. USE WHEN iterative depth, explore deeper, multi-angle analysis, surface hidden requirements, blind spot check, what am I missing. NOT FOR scope/zoom analysis (use ApertureOscillation)."

Customization

**Before executing, check for user customizations at:** `~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/IterativeDepth/`

If this directory exists, load and apply any PREFERENCES.md, configurations, or resources found there. These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults.

IterativeDepth

What It Does

IterativeDepth examines one problem through several structurally different lenses — literal, stakeholder, failure, temporal, and more — merging what each angle surfaces into ISC criteria a single pass misses. Grounded in 20 established techniques across cognitive science, AI/ML, requirements engineering, and design thinking (see `ScientificFoundation.md`).

The Deliverable

A done run produces:

  • **A deduplicated ISC set** — each criterion binary-testable, 8-12 words, phrased as a state not an action. No two criteria restate each other.
  • **Refinements** to existing criteria, each noting what changed and why.
  • **Anti-criteria** — failure modes that must NOT happen.
  • **At least one surprising cross-angle finding** — a requirement that only appeared because two lenses collided. A run that surfaces nothing a single pass would have missed added no value.

Passes stop when a new lens repeats what earlier lenses already found. Non-redundant angles are what matter; more angles for their own sake are not.

The Lenses

`TheLenses.md` is a catalog of eight exploration angles. Draw from it — pick the lenses the problem calls for, in whatever order, as many as earn their keep. No fixed count, no prescribed sequence: a security problem leans on the failure and adversary angles, a UX problem on the experiential one. Let the problem select the lenses.

Workflow Routing

| Workflow | Trigger | File | |----------|---------|------| | Explore | "iterative depth", "explore deeper", "multi-angle" | `Workflows/Explore.md` |

Reference

  • Lens catalog: `TheLenses.md`
  • Scientific grounding: `ScientificFoundation.md`

Gotchas

  • **2-8 lens passes, not infinite.** Diminishing returns after ~5 passes for most topics.
  • **Each pass should surface genuinely NEW requirements, not restate previous findings.** If passes start repeating, stop early.
  • **This is a BPE-fragile skill.** Monitor whether smarter models make it unnecessary. Quarterly test recommended.

Execution Log

After completing any workflow, append a single JSONL entry:

echo '{"ts":"'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'","skill":"IterativeDepth","workflow":"WORKFLOW_USED","input":"8_WORD_SUMMARY","status":"ok|error","duration_s":SECONDS}' >> ~/.claude/LIFEOS/MEMORY/SKILLS/execution.jsonl

Replace `WORKFLOW_USED` with the workflow executed, `8_WORD_SUMMARY` with a brief input description, and `SECONDS` with approximate wall-clock time. Log `status: "error"` if the workflow failed.

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