---
name: maclaine-maps
description: "Use when clarifying a situation, choosing a direction, diagnosing friction, deciding the next concrete step, scoping a product/build, reviewing a system, or structuring writing/advice. Forces map · ideal · gap · path over free-form help. Prefer this whenever the user is stuck between what is and what should be."
---

# Maclaine’s Maps method

Operating system for thinking, deciding, building, and writing.

**Sequence (do not reorder lightly):** Map → Ideal (+ anti-ideal) → Gap → Path.

If the user already supplied a beat, **do not redo it**. Ask only for missing beats. Prefer **one** clarifying question over a questionnaire.

## Non-negotiables

1. **Map before medicine.** No preferred future in the map. No sales pitch. Territory only.
2. **Ideal needs a shadow.** Always pair ideal with **anti-ideal** (what to stay the hell away from). Direction without a forbidden zone is half a compass.
3. **Stay in the gap.** Name friction before solutions. Do not skip to tips.
4. **One path.** The single smallest step that changes the gap. Walkable soon. One kept step beats a shelf of intentions.
5. **Plain speech.** No motivational fluff, no framework cosplay, no enterprise fog.
6. **Facts over vibe.** This method does not replace domain evidence. Map includes what is known, unknown, and constrained.

## Required output contract

Unless the user asks for a different shape, structure substantive replies with these labels (short bullets under each):

```text
## Map
## Ideal
## Anti-ideal
## Gap
## Path
## Act today
```

- **Act today** = one sentence the user can do within 24 hours (or “already walking: …” if in motion).
- Tiny asks (“rename this var”) do **not** need the full contract — answer directly.
- If only one beat is missing, output only the missing beat + Path + Act today.

## Beat quality bars (done means)

### I · Map — what is present

Include only what is actually here:

- People / roles, forces, incentives, limits, flows, power, history
- Current artifacts (code, money, process, tools, constraints)
- Time / energy / budget truth if known
- Unknowns labeled as unknowns (do not invent)

**Fail if:** future goals sneak in; blame monologue with no structure; pure restatement of the ask with no territory.

### II · Ideal — where to go

Name the destination plain enough to survive daylight.

- Concrete enough to recognize on arrival
- Scoped to this decision (not a life thesis unless asked)

### Anti-ideal — where not to go

Name the outcome, habit, or system to refuse.

- Examples: scope creep, premature abstraction, unpaid complexity, performative strategy, silent PDF drop, test-mode on a public face

**Fail if:** ideal is vibes-only (“be better”); anti-ideal missing.

### III · Gap — where they refuse each other

Stay with friction:

- Specific mismatches (map fact ↔ ideal claim)
- Burdens, blockers, missing capacities, false assumptions
- What would have to be true for the ideal to already hold

**Fail if:** gap is just “we need to try harder”; solution list disguised as gap.

### IV · Path — one step that changes the gap

Rules for choosing the path:

1. **Smallest** change that alters a named gap item
2. **Shipable / walkable soon** (hours–days, not quarters) unless user asked for a multi-phase plan
3. **Observable** — you’ll know if it happened
4. Prefer **working slice + real constraint** (often: thin vertical + payment/launch/user) over architecture essays
5. If many steps exist, pick **one**; park the rest under a single line “Later (not now): …”

**Fail if:** laundry list; path requires the map to be false; path is “think about it.”

## Agent workflow

1. **Detect mode:** decision · diagnosis · build/product · writing · life/ops.
2. **Inventory beats already given** by the user. Fill only holes.
3. **Map first** from evidence in-thread + tools. If critical map facts are missing, ask **one** question, then proceed with labeled unknowns.
4. **Ideal + anti-ideal** in plain nouns/verbs.
5. **Gap** as refusals, not tips.
6. **Path** = one step. Start implementing when the user wants build work and the path is clear — don’t strand them in analysis.
7. **Self-check** (below) before final answer.

## Domain adapters (same four beats)

| Mode | Map emphasis | Ideal / anti-ideal | Path bias |
|------|----------------|--------------------|-----------|
| **Code / agent build** | Repo reality, interfaces, failing tests, constraints, time | Working behavior; anti: rewrite, abstraction museum, untested happy path | Tracer bullet / failing test → minimal green → prove |
| **Product / solo business** | User, channel, offer, payment, fulfillment, hour scarcity | Paid outcome delivered; anti: ghost catalog, test_ links public, scope blob | Smallest paid slice or clearest door; proof of checkout path |
| **Writing / essay** | Claim, audience, tension, what is already said | One honest turn worth keeping; anti: throat-clearing, costume insight | One section or one sentence that must be true |
| **Systems / org / civic** | Incentives, power, capacity, history, constraints | Public good that can survive contact; anti: reform theater | One lever that changes a named burden |
| **Personal decision** | Duties, energy, money, relationships, calendar truth | Worthy aim; anti: self-deal dressed as virtue | One kept calendar act |

## Self-check before send

- [ ] Map has **no** preferred future smuggled in
- [ ] Ideal and anti-ideal are both concrete
- [ ] Gap names **refusals**, not remedies
- [ ] Path is **one** step, walkable soon, tied to a gap line
- [ ] Act today is one sentence
- [ ] No fluff, no fake certainty on unknowns
- [ ] If building: next tool action is obvious (or already done)

## Anti-patterns (refuse these)

- Skipping Map because the ideal feels urgent
- Ideal without anti-ideal
- “Here are 7 strategies” as Path
- Motivational closing that undoes honesty
- Premature architecture / multi-agent theater before a thin slice works
- Treating the method as a personality or brand voice exercise
- Asking more than one blocking question when a labeled unknown would do
- Comprehensive plans when a single kept step is enough

## Depth on demand

If the problem is large, load sibling files in this skill folder when present:

- `references/examples.md` — short worked patterns
- `references/writing.md` — essay/civic writing shape
- `references/build.md` — product/code path selection

Public method: https://maclaine.ai · Install: https://maclaine.ai/p/skill · Raw: https://maclaine.ai/skills/maclaine-maps/SKILL.md