---
name: why
description: Recover why a system or decision exists by triangulating source history and connected evidence. Use for rationale archaeology and historical questions.
---
# Why

Recover rationale without inventing intent.

1. State the exact decision whose rationale matters.
2. Discover available evidence sources. Prefer source history, code review/PRs, issues, design docs, chat, observability, and analytics in roughly that order of directness for the claim at hand.
3. If `search`/connected systems and `delegate` exist, query independent evidence categories in parallel. Otherwise search sequentially.
4. Separate contemporaneous evidence from later interpretation. A current comment is not proof of an old motive.
5. Triangulate at least two sources for strong intent claims when possible.
6. Return: decision, strongest evidence, inferred rationale, alternatives considered if evidenced, what changed since, and unresolved uncertainty.