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minimal-change-search

Testing & Quality
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Tactic: Generate candidate changes, detect flip-points where conclusion reverses, measure fragility as distance to nearest flip.

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Minimal Change Search Tactic

Find the smallest perturbation that flips the conclusion — closer flip-points mean higher fragility.

Orchestration

  1. causal-claim-extraction identifies the conclusion to test
  2. factor-enumeration generates candidate change dimensions
  3. counterfactual-scenario-construction builds scenarios with graduated changes
  4. flip-point-detection binary-searches for the minimal change that flips
  5. fragility-measurement computes distance from actuality to flip-point
  6. Repeat for each dimension within budget
  7. Report: nearest flip-point, fragility index, most vulnerable dimension

Search Strategy

  • Start with large changes (clearly flips or clearly holds)
  • Binary search between hold/flip boundary
  • Record the minimal change magnitude per dimension
  • Fragility = 1 / (distance to nearest flip-point)

Subagents Dispatched

  • causal-claim-extraction (conclusion identification)
  • factor-enumeration (dimension generation)
  • counterfactual-scenario-construction (graduated scenarios)
  • flip-point-detection (binary search)
  • fragility-measurement (distance computation)

Termination Conditions

  • All dimensions searched within budget
  • Flip-point found with distance < threshold (extremely fragile)
  • No flip-point found after maximum search depth (robust)

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

SOPWhen to use
causal-claim-extractionExtract all causal claims (X causes Y, X leads to Y, X enables Y) from an artifact, producing a structured list of cause-effect pairs.
counterfactual-scenario-constructionConstruct precise, internally consistent counterfactual scenarios where specified factors are altered, then reason about the resulting conclusion.
factor-enumerationList all key factors, conditions, and assumptions that support or enable the artifact's conclusion.
flip-point-detectionFind the minimal change magnitude along a dimension that causes the conclusion to flip from true to false.
fragility-measurementCompute a fragility index from flip-point distances and degradation scores, summarizing how robust the conclusion is.