← Patterns / practice
Degrees of freedom: open, shaped, exact
Label each step by how much judgment it takes, so agents are rigid only where rigidity matters.
- Authors
- Michael Staton
- Augmented with
- Claude Code on Claude Opus 5.5
- Tags
- Agent-Skills · Writing-Skills
What it is
| Level | Meaning | Example |
| open | Judgment; several good answers | Writing an exploration's body |
| shaped | A template is the default; depart with a reason | Doc structure, changelog entries |
| exact | One right answer | Key names, ID formats, date format |
Why
Newer models are capable enough that over-prescriptive instructions make their output worse. But some steps really do have one right answer, and getting those wrong breaks tools downstream. Labeling the difference lets one doc be loose and strict in the right places.
How
-
Tag steps where the difference matters; don't tag everything.
-
A clarified loop records the level the team chose for each step.