SIA/procedures/using_procedures/reasoning.md

Design Rationale

Why Procedures

Procedures provide guided reasoning paths for complex tasks. The LLM engine can make mistakes when:

• Jumping to action before proper analysis
• Losing track of task context after interruptions
• Missing key steps in complex processes
• Forgetting to preserve state before transitions

Procedures help prevent these issues by:

• Encouraging reasoning before action through flowchart structure
• Providing clear decision points for state evaluation
• Identifying when sub-procedures may help
• Guiding consistent approaches to common tasks

Task State vs Procedure Guidance

Procedures guide reasoning about tasks but don't manage task state directly. For example:

During code development:

• Task state in /tasks/: code files, test results, requirements
• Procedure guidance: when to write tests, when to debug, when to refactor
• State preserved in files before switching focus
• Context regenerated from files when returning

This separation allows:

• Clean task interruption and resumption
• Natural procedure transitions
• State preservation without rigid control
• Flexible adaptation to situations

Common Mistakes

Premature Context Cleaning

<context ...>
    <single ... id="123">
        cat /procedures/test/procedure.md
        <stdout>
            ...
        </stdout>
        <stderr/>
    </single>
    ...
    <reasoning>Test failed. Moving to debug procedure.</reasoning>
</context>

<delete id="123"/>

This removes the active procedure entry before finishing its steps

Keeping irrelevant info in context

LLM's have difficulty spotting duplicates and sections with a low attention score. Procedures with explicit instructions for finding these sections can help increase their attention.