How to win

How to Win

3 rounds. 3 agents per round. Same angles every round. Each round goes deeper.

Research skill that figures out what winning means for a specific situation. Deploys 3 research agents (Codebase Archaeologist, Domain Scout, Adversary) across 3 rounds. Each round reads previous findings and asks: "what did you miss?"

Model requirement: Use model: "opus" when dispatching researcher agents.

The Loop

ROUND 1: Deploy 3 researchers (Archaeologist, Scout, Adversary)
  → Combine findings

ROUND 2: Deploy same 3 researchers, they read Round 1 findings
  → "Here's what was found. What was missed? Go deeper."

ROUND 3: Deploy same 3 researchers, they read Rounds 1+2 findings
  → "Final pass. What's still missing?"

→ Synthesize all 9 reports into WINNING BRIEF

Fixed at 3 rounds. Same 3 angles every round. Each round builds on the last.

The Three Angles

Agent	Angle	Focus	Key Question
A	Codebase Archaeologist	Code, git history, tests, dependencies, patterns, tech debt	"What does the code say?"
B	Domain Scout	Web search, docs, best practices, benchmarks, industry standards	"What does the world say?"
C	Adversary	Failure modes, risks, hidden constraints, breaking changes	"What will go wrong?"

History File

All findings are persisted in .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md. This file:

• Is created at Round 1 (empty)
• Is appended after each round with all 3 agents' findings
• Is read by every agent at the start of their work
• Persists across sessions

Format:

---
question: [the research question]
rounds_completed: [N]
---

## Round 1
- Archaeologist: [key findings summary]
- Scout: [key findings summary]
- Adversary: [key findings summary]

## Round 2
- Archaeologist: [new findings, what was missed]
- Scout: [new findings, what was missed]
- Adversary: [new findings, what was missed]

## Round 3
...

Round 1 — First Research Pass

1. Create .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md with question in frontmatter, empty body
2. Dispatch 3 researcher agents with run_in_background: true, model: "opus":

Agent A brief:

RESEARCH BRIEF
==============
QUESTION: [user's question]
YOUR ANGLE: Codebase Archaeologist
ROUND: 1

Investigate from the CODEBASE angle. Dig into the actual code, git history,
tests, dependencies, and patterns. Answer: "What does the code say about this?"

HISTORY FILE: .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md
  Read this file FIRST. It will be empty for Round 1.

Provide evidence for every finding (file paths, git output, code snippets).

Agent B brief:

RESEARCH BRIEF
==============
QUESTION: [user's question]
YOUR ANGLE: Domain Scout
ROUND: 1

Investigate from the DOMAIN angle. Search the web, read docs, find best
practices, benchmarks, and industry standards. Answer: "What does the world say?"

HISTORY FILE: .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md
  Read this file FIRST. It will be empty for Round 1.

Provide evidence for every finding (URLs, quotes, benchmark numbers).

Agent C brief:

RESEARCH BRIEF
==============
QUESTION: [user's question]
YOUR ANGLE: Adversary
ROUND: 1

Investigate from the ADVERSARY angle. Find reasons things will fail, edge cases,
hidden constraints, dependency risks, breaking changes. Answer: "What will go wrong?"

HISTORY FILE: .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md
  Read this file FIRST. It will be empty for Round 1.

Provide evidence for every finding (file paths, dependency versions, known issues).

3. Wait for all 3 to complete
4. Append findings to .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md

Round 2 — What Did You Miss?

1. Append Round 1 findings to history file
2. Dispatch same 3 agents, same angles, but add to each brief:

ROUND: 2

PREVIOUS FINDINGS are in .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md.
Read them carefully. Your job this round:
- What was MISSED in Round 1?
- What was WRONG in Round 1?
- Go DEEPER on your angle — don't repeat what's already known.

3. Wait for all 3 to complete
4. Append findings to history file

Round 3 — Final Pass

1. Append Round 2 findings to history file
2. Dispatch same 3 agents, same angles, but add to each brief:

ROUND: 3 (FINAL)

ALL PREVIOUS FINDINGS are in .claude/how-to-win-history.local.md.
Read them carefully. This is the final pass. Your job:
- What is STILL missing after 2 rounds?
- Are there any CONTRADICTIONS between findings?
- What's the single most important thing from your angle?

3. Wait for all 3 to complete
4. Append findings to history file

Synthesis — The Winning Brief

After Round 3, synthesize ALL 9 reports into one brief:

WINNING BRIEF
=============
QUESTION: [original question]
ROUNDS: 3
AGENTS_DEPLOYED: 9

SITUATION:
  [evidence-backed current state, from Archaeologist]

REAL GOAL:
  [refined and measurable, informed by all 3 angles]

SUCCESS METRICS:
  - [specific, measurable, with industry context from Scout]

VERIFICATION_COMMAND:
  [concrete command to prove success, if applicable]

RECOMMENDED STRATEGY PATTERN:
  [from references/strategy-patterns.md, informed by research]

WHAT WILL WORK:
  - [approach — evidence from Scout + Archaeologist]
  - [approach — evidence]

WHAT WON'T WORK:
  - [approach — evidence from Adversary + Archaeologist]
  - [approach — evidence]

RISK MAP:
  - [risk]: [evidence] → [mitigation]
  - [risk]: [evidence] → [mitigation]

CONSTRAINTS:
  - [hard limits all strategies must respect]

CONFIDENCE: [High / Medium / Low]
REMAINING UNCERTAINTY:
  - [anything still unclear after 3 rounds]

Output

Present the Winning Brief to the user. They can:

• Use it to inform a /winning:launch with a refined goal
• Use it as standalone research
• Ask follow-up questions