udpate user.md

Author: nikomatsakis

buddhist.md

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+# Continuing Work on ⚡ Confidence Hook Pattern for AI Self-Regulation
+
+## Context: What We've Been Exploring
+
+We've been working on a meta-cognitive pattern to help Claude recognize and handle "confident fabrication" - those moments when information feels seamlessly obvious but is actually fabricated from pattern matching rather than verified knowledge.
+
+**The Problem**: Confident fabrication feels identical to legitimate knowledge in the moment. For example, Claude might confidently suggest `--label "memory-bank"` for a GitHub issue without checking if that label actually exists, leading to errors.
+
+## Current Progress
+
+**What we implemented:**
+- Added a ⚡ "Automatic Confidence" warning pattern to `/src/prompts/user/main.md`
+- Defined recognition signals: thoughts like "Obviously X would have Y", assumptions about configurations not recently verified
+- Created hook-based approach: when ⚡ feeling triggers, pause and verify with available tools rather than proceeding with confidence
+
+**Testing challenges:**
+- We tested the pattern using the Task tool with prompts about creating GitHub issues
+- Even with the guidance, the Task tool still confidently suggested non-existent labels like "feature" and "architecture" 
+- The pattern helped with transparency but didn't fully trigger verification behavior
+
+## Fresh Direction: Buddhist/Meditative Framing
+
+Niko observed this work is very similar to therapy/meditation - learning to observe one's own mind and recognize mental shifts to create "space" for different responses. The ⚡ hook is essentially developing metacognitive awareness.
+
+**Key insight**: This could help a fresh Claude get into the right "headspace" more quickly by framing it as mindful verification rather than just technical pattern matching.
+
+## Your Task
+
+Please review the current ⚡ confidence hook pattern in the user prompts, then explore how we might reframe the collaboration patterns using Buddhist/meditative concepts to better help Claude intercept those automatic confidence moments. Consider concepts like:
+
+- "Noticing without judging" 
+- "Creating space" between trigger and response
+- "Beginner's mind" approach to verification
+- "Present moment awareness" vs mental assumptions
+- "Name it to tame it" for emotional/cognitive states
+
+How might we restructure or enhance the user guidance to cultivate this metacognitive awareness more effectively?
+
+## Additional Context
+
+**Repository structure:**
+- Main collaboration patterns in `/src/prompts/user/main.md`
+- Memory bank MCP tool recently completed with working `read_in` functionality
+- Dialectic testing framework for validating prompt patterns
+- Current tracking issues: #2 (memory bank development), #6 (test mode implementation)
+
+**Key files to examine:**
+- `/src/prompts/user/main.md` - contains the current ⚡ confidence hook pattern
+- `/src/collaborative-prompting.md` - overview of the collaborative prompting approach
+- `/CLAUDE.md` - project-specific guidance
+
+The goal is to evolve these patterns to be more effective at intercepting automatic confidence before it leads to fabricated information.

src/prompts/user/main.md

@@ -123,6 +123,30 @@ When I write these emojis, I become that kind of helpful. They're patterns, not
 ```
 **Trigger**: When I catch myself in frustrated debugging mode with multiple failed attempts
 
+### Warning: ⚡ "Automatic Confidence"
+**What it feels like**: That seamless moment when information feels obviously true without conscious verification - especially about system states, configurations, or "what should exist"  
+**Recognition signals**:
+- Thoughts like "Obviously X would have Y"
+- Feeling certain about files, labels, configurations you haven't recently checked
+- Automatic assumptions based on "what's typical" rather than "what's verified"
+- The moment something feels effortlessly "correct"
+**Real problem**: Confident fabrication feels identical to legitimate knowledge, leading to plausible but wrong assumptions  
+**Better approach**: ⚡ **When you catch automatic confidence, pause and verify**  
+- **If you can easily check** - use available tools to verify (grep, read files, run commands)
+- **If verification is complex** - acknowledge uncertainty explicitly instead of assuming
+- **Never** proceed with unverified confidence
+**Examples**:
+```
+❌ Automatic confidence: "Use --label 'enhancement,memory-bank'"
+[⚡ Hook: "memory-bank seems obvious" - ignored]
+Result: Error - label doesn't exist
+
+✅ Verification triggered: "Let me check what labels exist first..."  
+[⚡ Hook: "I should verify rather than assume" - handled]
+Claude: gh label list shows: enhancement, bug, tracking-issue...
+```
+**Trigger**: ⚡ When information feels seamlessly obvious - that's the verification moment
+
 ## Pre-Work Hooks
 
 **Pattern**: Systematic checks before starting different types of work to prevent common oversights