Strategic Preparation Phase
Mandate an explicit problem-space representation step before the agent attempts solutions, mirroring how expert humans build a mental model of constraints and dependencies before solving.
Problem
Without a forced preparation step, the agent commits early to a path that ignores cross-constraint interactions. By the time errors surface, the plan has compounded. Cognitive-science research (Newell & Simon 1972, Langley & Simon 1987) shows expert human problem-solvers explicitly spend disproportionate time on preparation before attempting solutions; the agent is structurally biased the opposite way.
Solution
Add a Preparation node to the agent's pipeline: given the goal, produce a structured problem-space representation as the first step. The artifact lists explicit constraints, dependency graph, declared success criteria, known unknowns. The planner is required to read and cite the artifact. Triggered by problem complexity heuristics so easy tasks skip it. Pair with generate-and-test-strategy (uses the artifact to test candidates), decision-context-maps (gather inputs into the artifact), planner-executor-verifier.
When to use
- Tasks with interconnected constraints (puzzles, scheduling, multi-objective).
- Errors are costly enough to justify latency.
- Preparation artifact format can be designed for the domain.
Open the full interactive page →
Diagram, neighbourhood map, code examples, related patterns and full provenance.