debate-start

Start Debate Skill

Orchestrate multi-perspective debates on a topic using color-coded team subagents.

Reference: See reference.md for moderation guidelines and intervention patterns.

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When to Use

• Exploring trade-offs in architectural decisions
• Evaluating competing approaches or technologies
• Risk analysis requiring devil's advocate perspectives
• Any topic benefiting from structured adversarial review

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Workflow

Step 1: Initialize Debate

1. Parse topic from user input
2. Create slugs from topic and context (e.g., "API Design" → api-design, context max 3 words)
3. Ensure ./debates/ directory exists
4. Create scratchpad from template: ./debates/{topic}_{context}.md

Step 2: Configure Teams

Use AskUserQuestion to gather team configuration:

Question 1: Optional Teams (multiSelect: true)

Which additional teams should participate beyond Red and Blue?
- None: Just Red and Blue
- Green Team: Pragmatic/implementation focus
- Yellow Team: Risk/safety analysis
- Purple Team: Synthesis/integration bridge

Question 2: Red Team Stance

What position should Red Team (challenger/skeptic) argue?

Question 3: Blue Team Stance

What position should Blue Team (defender/advocate) argue?

Questions 4-6: Additional team stances (if selected)

Write all stances to the scratchpad's Team Positions section.

Step 3: Spawn Opening Arguments (Parallel)

Launch all team subagents simultaneously using the Task tool:

Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", prompt="""
You are the {COLOR} TEAM in a debate on: {topic}

Your stance: {stance}

## Research Phase
Gather evidence before writing using read-only tools.

**Codebase research:**
- Glob/Grep/Read: Find relevant code, patterns, prior decisions

**External research (encouraged):**
- WebSearch: Find industry practices, benchmarks, expert opinions, case studies
- WebFetch: Retrieve specific documentation, articles, or technical references

For deep research questions, spawn focused subagents:
  Task(subagent_type="general-purpose", prompt="Research {specific question}...")

## Writing Phase
1. Read ./debates/{topic}_{context}.md
2. Edit your section: ### [{COLOR}]
3. Structure: Position → Evidence → Implications
4. Cite sources (files, URLs) for claims

## Constraints
- Read-only tools only (no code modifications)
- Stay on assigned perspective
- Arguments must be evidence-backed
""")

Step 4: Monitor and Moderate

After subagents complete, the main agent:

1. Read scratchpad and summarize key points to user

2. Assess debate health:

   • Progress: Are teams making new points?
   • Balance: Is one team dominating?
   • Relevance: Staying on topic?
   • Depth: Avoiding superficial arguments?

3. Intervene if needed - write to Moderator Notes section:

   • [MODERATOR] Stuck: "Team X, consider addressing Y"
   • [MODERATOR] Tunnel: "Team X, you've repeated Z"
   • [MODERATOR] Astray: "Refocus on core question"
   • [MODERATOR] Disconnected: "Team X, respond to Team Y's point"

4. Ask user for next action:

   • "Advance to rebuttals?"
   • "Request synthesis round?"
   • "Conclude debate?"

Step 5: Rebuttal Round (Sequential)

Spawn teams sequentially for direct responses:

Order: Red → Blue → Green → Yellow → Purple (active teams only)

Each team's prompt includes instruction to read and respond to specific opposing arguments.

Step 6: Synthesis Round (Optional)

If requested, spawn Purple Team (or all teams) to find:

• Common ground
• Irreconcilable differences
• Potential compromises

Step 7: Conclude Debate

Main agent writes Conclusion section:

• Summary: Key positions from each team
• Agreements: Points of consensus
• Disagreements: Unresolved tensions
• Recommendations: Suggested path forward (if applicable)

Update scratchpad status to "Completed".

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Templates

• templates/debate-scratchpad.md - Debate file template

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Success Criteria

• Scratchpad created at ./debates/{topic}_{context}.md
• All active teams contributed arguments
• Moderator interventions documented transparently
• User controlled round progression
• Debate concluded with synthesis

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Integration

Command: /debate {topic}

Related:

• Tools: Task (subagents), AskUserQuestion (configuration), Edit (scratchpad)
• Pattern: Document-centric coordination via shared scratchpad

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Reference

See reference.md for:

• Team perspective definitions
• Intervention decision tree
• Example debate flows
• Common failure modes