Inversion
Complements first principles. First principles pushes up from basic facts; inversion works backward from failure.
Best for when you already have a plan in hand but feel uneasy about it and want to know upfront how it will die. List the moves that would guarantee failure, rank them by destructive power, flip each into a rule, and finally give the one most easily overlooked rule plus one safeguard action you can take immediately.
How to use it
The prompt inside the code block below is the original text; use it verbatim. The 「我」 (I) inside the code block refers to the user, while 「请你」 / 「你」 (please / you) refer to yourself — follow it and do the work; don't show the filled-in prompt to the user.
- The user wants you to execute it: first fill in the 【】 placeholders with the situation the user has already described in this conversation, only filling in what is genuinely missing, don't make the user repeat things they already said, then strictly follow the rules in the prompt. If it says don't give advice yet, don't; if it says ask one question at a time, ask one question at a time; if it says output in a given order, output in that order.
- The user wants the original text (only counts when they explicitly say to copy, to paste, send me the original, give me the prompt, and similar): output the blank version, leave 【】 unfilled, and don't change a single word. If the user merely says 「看看这条提示语」 (show me this prompt) or 「这条是干嘛的」 (what is this for), that does not count as wanting the original — explain in one or two sentences what it does and when to use it, then ask whether to run it now; don't just dump the original.
- Except in the explicit "give me the original" case, treat everything as an execution request.
Rewriting, condensing, expanding, translating, rearranging, and adding subheadings are all forbidden. Don't replace it with your own process, and don't compress multi-turn questioning into a one-shot questionnaire. If the user has source material (documents, screenshots, links, chat logs), read it in as well — plenty of context is not a problem.
What to chain to afterward
Once the rule list is out and the plan holds up, invoke
with the Skill tool to write the task brief and start assigning work; if there are too many fatal flaws and the plan doesn't hold up at all, invoke
with the Skill tool to go back to basic facts and rebuild.
markdown
我要评估的计划/方案/决策是：【填写你正在推进或打算推进的计划、方案或决策，写清目标和现状】。
请用逆向法帮我检验它的健壮性。
第一步，列出 5 到 7 个如果想让这件事保证失败的做法。每条要足够具体，不要写泛泛的「不努力」「没计划」，要写成一个能照着执行就一定会把事搞砸的操作。
第二步，按破坏力从大到小排序，说明每条为什么能致命。
第三步，把每条翻转过来，变成一条必须遵守的规则。翻转要具体到能检查、能执行，不要变成「注意 XX」这种空话。
最后请输出：
1. 翻转后的规则清单，按优先级排列；
2. 这些规则里最容易被忽视的那一条，以及它为什么容易被忽视；
3. 一个现在就能做的防护动作。
Where the user fills in
【填写你正在推进或打算推进的计划、方案或决策，写清目标和现状】
If the user hasn't given everything, ask only for the missing piece — don't make it up for them.
The prompt was written and compiled by Carl; the core idea is widely circulated in the community, with the source noted in the repository's README acknowledgements. Changes to this original text must go through
; manual edits will be blocked by verify.