---
name: agentic-exploration
description: Orient before substantial fresh, takeover, or widened-scope work, or investigate a bounded non-defect question.
---

# Agentic exploration

Use this skill for substantial orientation or bounded non-defect exploration, including whether a capability, constraint, or approach applies. Keep routine source inspection inside the active workflow. Unknown unexpected behavior belongs to `agentic-debugging`. Independent assessment of a proposed direction belongs to the premise check in `agentic-brainstorming`.

Safety, permissions, harness constraints, the active task, and applicable repository instructions remain authoritative. Both lanes are evidence-only and non-mutating; this skill does not authorize edits or implementation. Evidence commands may create understood transient output, but leave no intentional artifacts.

## Orient

Before substantial fresh work, takeover, or widened scope:

1. Restate the outcome and identify uncertainty that could change the route.
2. Read applicable repository instructions and inspect relevant status, source, tests, documentation, and dependency contracts.
3. Separate directly observed facts, inferences, and unknowns.
4. State constraints, source boundaries, and unresolved blockers.

Prefer an exact known-source read over broad exploration.

## Explore

Investigate a bounded non-defect unknown directly, or delegate it to `agentic-explorer` when separate fresh context helps. This instruction authorizes the coordinating agent to choose delegation without a separate operator request, within the active task, evidence boundary, and applicable permissions. Delegated children do not delegate further. Use `agentic-subagents` for supported activation, model, and thinking settings. Explorer establishes current structure; `agentic-code-design` chooses target structure.

A fresh child cannot be assumed to know conversation-local context. Supply the question, evidence boundary, and applicable task-specific constraints or the explicit value `none`. Cite the repository path when a load-bearing constraint has one. Source restrictions and desired detail are optional.

Return the answer first, followed by evidence, searched boundary, and uncertainty. Do not silently widen the task.