When AI collaboration goes off-track, you redo everything. These protocols catch misalignment early — often at the plan level, before it hardens into code or other downstream work. Fix the direction before the implementation compounds it.
Correcting a wrong direction at the plan level can cost one conversation turn. Once it hardens into code, rollout steps, or downstream explanations, it can cost hours of rework. These protocols insert structured checkpoints at decision points — intent, goal, context, perspective, execution, applicability, recall, and comprehension — so you and AI can surface, judge, and adapt misalignment before it compounds.
Stated Mission — the public hook: catch wrong directions early, especially at the plan level. This is the clearest entry story and how most users reach for the protocols.
Realized Machinery — the actual coverage: structured checkpoints span planning, analysis, decision, execution, verification, recall, and comprehension. Protocols such as Prosoche (execution-time risk), Epharmoge (post-execution applicability), Anamnesis (session recall), and Katalepsis (comprehension verification) extend beyond plan-level alone.
The two layers serve different audiences: README and landing copy carry the narrow public contract; SKILL.md and CLAUDE.md describe the full machinery. See docs/mission-bridge.md for the governance rules that keep these layers aligned.
Install all protocols and utilities:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jongwony/epistemic-protocols/main/scripts/install.sh | bashThen run /onboard — start with a quick recommendation based on your recent sessions, then optionally continue to guided learning with scenarios, trials, and quizzes.
Paste in Codex and run:
$skill-installer install these skills from jongwony/epistemic-protocols:
- prothesis/skills/frame
- syneidesis/skills/gap
- hermeneia/skills/clarify
- katalepsis/skills/grasp
- telos/skills/goal
- aitesis/skills/inquire
- horismos/skills/bound
- analogia/skills/ground
- periagoge/skills/induce
- prosoche/skills/attend
- epharmoge/skills/contextualize
- anamnesis/skills/recollect
- epistemic-cooperative/skills/onboard
Restart Codex, then start with $onboard.
Notes
- This installs 12 protocols +
onboard./report,/dashboard,/writeare not included. - To install a single skill, use the same
skill-installerpattern with one path. - This README is the source of truth for the Codex-supported install set.
| Protocol | Command | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Hermeneia | /clarify |
AI keeps building what you didn't ask for |
| Telos | /goal |
You know you want something but can't define success |
| Aitesis | /inquire |
AI charges ahead without asking what it needs to know |
| Prothesis | /frame |
Need to look at this from multiple angles, not sure which |
| Analogia | /ground |
AI's advice sounds right in theory but unclear in your context |
| Periagoge | /induce |
Multiple concrete cases accumulating into an unnamed essence — crystallize the emerging abstraction |
| Syneidesis | /gap |
About to commit but might be missing something |
| Prosoche | /attend |
Want execution readiness checked and risky actions gated for your judgment |
| Epharmoge | /contextualize |
AI's output is correct but doesn't fit your situation |
| Horismos | /bound |
You need to define what you know vs what AI should figure out |
| Anamnesis | /recollect |
You vaguely remember something was discussed before but cannot name it |
| Katalepsis | /grasp |
AI made big changes and you need to actually understand them |
Concern clusters: Planning (/clarify, /goal, /inquire) · Analysis (/frame, /ground, /induce) · Decision (/gap) · Execution (/attend) · Verification (/contextualize) · Cross-cutting (/bound, /recollect, /grasp)
| Plugin | Command | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Epistemic Cooperative | /onboard, /probe, /catalog, /report, /dashboard, /write, /steer, /misuse, /crystallize, /rehydrate |
Protocol learning, deficit recognition fit review, handbook reference, usage analysis, coverage dashboard, multi-perspective blog drafting, project profile recalibration via session calibration drift audit, retrospective contract violation detection, and the Horizon-Fusion Text (HFT) write/read pair for cross-session continuity |
Three discovery modes coexist (none replaces the others):
/catalog— passive reference handbook (browse / lookup; you already know the question)/onboard— pattern-based recommendation + optional trial (session-history-driven; you want to learn what fits your patterns)/probe— active AI-hypothesized deficit recognition (multi-hypothesis fit review when you feel something is off but cannot yet name which deficit fits)
Retrospective audit (separate category from the discovery trio above):
/misuse— retrospective contract violation scan (detects past/groundand/induceprotocol violations; surfaces structured violation records for user-constituted review)
Cross-session continuity (HFT write/read pair):
/crystallize— inscribe a session's horizon-fusion residue into a four-layer Markdown file (Surface Text · Wirkungsgeschichte · Reference Shells · Excluded) at stage transition or before a session boundary/rehydrate— enter a previously inscribed HFT to prime the current session with the originating session's Vorverständnis; auxiliary substrates (auto-memory, hypomnesis) remain reachable only via explicit/inquireor/recollectinvocations
Each protocol targets a specific decision point where human-AI collaboration can drift. Public docs lead with the plan-level hook because it is the clearest entry story; contributor docs explain the broader machinery spanning planning, execution, verification, recall, and comprehension. For the bridge between those layers, see docs/mission-bridge.md. For architecture details and design philosophy, see CLAUDE.md.
New to the repo? Start with ONBOARDING.md. The intended usage: paste it into a fresh Claude Code session — the file carries an embedded instruction block that turns Claude into an onboarding buddy. Claude checks your environment against the setup checklist, routes you to the protocol that best matches your current stance, walks you through the core docs in order, and surfaces the contribution workflow and conventions.
Entry-point routing happens up front, so you can experience the protocols while onboarding onto them:
- First encounter, no prior context →
/onboard(epistemic-cooperative) for a quick recommendation plus scenario/trial/quiz walkthrough - Want comprehension of the project itself verified →
/grasp(katalepsis) overCLAUDE.mdor a specificSKILL.md - Already have a personal Claude Code workflow and want this project mapped onto it →
/ground(analogia), with your existing usage as the concrete domain - Need a fast when-to-use-which reference →
/catalog(epistemic-cooperative)
For the architecture and principles behind the protocols themselves, read CLAUDE.md and the axiom files under .claude/rules/.
Greek Codex
| Protocol | Greek | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Prothesis | πρόθεσις | Setting forth |
| Syneidesis | συνείδησις | Shared knowing |
| Hermeneia | ἑρμηνεία | Interpretation |
| Katalepsis | κατάληψις | Grasping, comprehension |
| Telos | τέλος | End, purpose |
| Horismos | ὁρισμός | A bounding |
| Aitesis | αἴτησις | Request, inquiry |
| Analogia | ἀναλογία | Proportion |
| Periagoge | περιαγωγή | Turning-around |
| Prosoche | προσοχή | Attention |
| Epharmoge | ἐφαρμογή | Application, fitting |
| Anamnesis | ἀνάμνησις | Recollection |
- @zzsza — Quiz-based participatory UX design contribution for Onboard
MIT