Curses
Discover the structural costs hidden in your strengths.
Every strength casts a shadow. The shadow is not a flaw — it is the structural cost of a capability. Understanding the cost transforms a curse into a conscious trade-off.
When to Use
Invoke this skill when:
- Discovering structural costs hidden in your strengths
- Analyzing behavioral patterns for self-improvement recommendations
- Generating attitude principles and practice matrix
- Reflective questions about working patterns and their trade-offs
Skip when:
- Exploring philosophical tradition match (use /sophia instead)
- Quick single-protocol question (answer directly)
- No session history exists and user prefers manual exploration
Pipeline
| Phase | What | Mode | |-------|------|------| | 1. Collect | Gather behavioral data | dimension-profiler agent | | 2. Analyze | Strength-Shadow extraction | AI + user dialogue | | 3. Recommend | Attitude principles + practice matrix | AI proposes | | 4. Report | Generate HTML report | Automated |
If the user provides a specific question (e.g., "What are my curses?"), orient the analysis toward that question.
Phase 1: Data Collection
Same-session reuse: If dimension-profiler output is already available in this
conversation (from a prior /sophia or /curses run), skip Phase 1 entirely and
reuse that output. Both skills produce identical profiler results.
Two-step delegation (same pipeline as /sophia):
Step 1: Run coverage-scanner agent (see agents/coverage-scanner.md) to get
pre-aggregated session data (protocol counts, friction, session types, tools).
Step 2: Pass coverage output to dimension-profiler agent (see agents/dimension-profiler.md):
Analyze this user's behavioral dimensions from their session data.
coverage_data: [paste coverage-scanner output here]
data_sources:
rules_dir: ~/.claude/rules/
claude_md: ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md
settings_json: ~/.claude/settings.json
data_context: session-enriched
Return the dimension profile table with scores, confidence, and raw signals.
When coverage_data is provided, omit sample_size — the profiler derives
dimensions from aggregate data and does not sample raw files.
If a dimension's confidence is "low", include it in the analysis but mark it as provisional and note this in the report.
Phase 2: Strength-Shadow Analysis
From the dimension profile, identify strengths and their structural costs.
Extraction method
For each dimension scoring above 65 (or below 35 — extremes in either direction):
- Name the strength: What capability does this extreme enable?
- Find the shadow: What structural cost does this extreme create?
- Identify the mechanism: Why does this strength produce this specific cost?
- Rate severity: structural (inherent), recurring (frequent), or conditional (context-dependent)
- Cite evidence: Link to specific data from the dimension profiler
Common strength-shadow patterns
These are heuristic starting points, not fixed outputs. Adapt based on actual data.
| Dimension extreme | Strength | Shadow | |-------------------|----------|--------| | D2 high (Doubt) | Catches errors early | Verification depth becomes opportunity cost | | D4 high (Systematic) | Consistent governance | Rule accumulation creates complexity | | D5 high (UU) | Discovers new patterns | May defer KK maintenance | | D6 high (Extended Mind) | Effective delegation | Curse activates on delegation failure | | D1 high (Abductive) | Creative hypothesis | May skip systematic validation | | D3 high (Dialogical) | Deep understanding | Extended exchanges consume time |
Cross-dimensional patterns
Look for patterns that emerge from dimension COMBINATIONS:
- D2 high + D4 high: "The cure-as-disease pattern" — each verification failure produces a new rule, which accumulates
- D5 high + D6 high: "Extended Mind strategy" — UU preference + AI delegation may be a strategy, not a curse (validate with user)
- D1 high + D2 high: "Bold conjecture + rigorous refutation" — Popperian pattern, strong if balanced
Dual-interpretation guidance (cold-start awareness)
When presenting strength-shadow pairs, some combinations may be either a curse OR a deliberate strategy. In context-rich sessions, the user may have already articulated this distinction. In cold-start sessions, the AI must proactively surface both interpretations before the user validates.
Patterns that require dual-interpretation:
- D5 high + D6 high: Could be "deliberate Extended Mind strategy with quality bridges" OR "KK neglect via over-delegation"
- D2 high + D4 high: Could be "systematic verification infrastructure that scales" OR "cure-as-disease accumulation"
For these dual-interpretation patterns specifically, retain a Constitution gate before downstream derivation: "This pattern admits two readings — [strategy interpretation] or [curse interpretation]. Which better describes your experience?" The user's intent here is project-profile category (a) — user IS the measurement target — and cannot be auto-resolved regardless of profile; downstream recommendations depend on this choice. Single-interpretation pairs (e.g., D1+D2, isolated dimensions) bypass this gate and proceed via the relay path described under "User dialogue" below.
User dialogue
When presenting dimensions to the user, always include the human-readable explanation from the dimension-profiler output (e.g., "D4 Rule Orientation — how you govern work") so users unfamiliar with the framework understand what each dimension measures.
Present single-interpretation strength-shadow pairs (the majority — those without the dual-interpretation gate above) as text output and proceed directly to Phase 3 recommendations. End the Phase 2 output with a visible red-line discovery line so the correction pathway is explicit: "If any pair seems misclassified, say so — I'll re-derive from there." The user may red-line via free response at any subsequent turn — confirm, reframe, dismiss, or add context. Counter-evidence that changes the structural category triggers re-derivation of downstream recommendations on the next turn.
Phase 3: Recommendations
From validated strength-shadow pairs, derive:
Attitude principles (max 4)
Each principle addresses a specific shadow:
Principle N — [Title]
[2-3 sentence explanation of the principle and why it addresses this shadow]
Application:
[Concrete, actionable guidance for daily practice]
Rank by ROI — which principle would have the highest impact if adopted? Mark the highest-ROI principle explicitly.
Practice matrix
Map principles to concrete situations:
| Situation | Principle | Action | Trigger | |-----------|-----------|--------|---------| | When X happens | Principle N | Do Y | Z condition |
Include 4-6 rows covering the most common situations.
Phase 4: Report Generation
Generate an HTML report following the cooperative's design system.
Design system source
Read one of:
~/.claude/usage-data/report.html— extract CSS- Cooperative's
skills/report/references/html-template.md— use as template basis skills/curses/references/report-template.md— curses-specific components
Context awareness
Check the dimension-profiler's Data Context field:
- session-enriched: Report may reference protocol chaining results, prior /sophia output, or session-specific observations. Include these in relevant sections.
- data-only: Report is generated purely from behavioral data. Keep analysis grounded in the dimension scores and raw signals.
Mark the report subtitle with the context tier (e.g., "708 sessions | data-only" or "708 sessions | session-enriched").
Required sections
- At a Glance — 3-4 bullet summary with section links
- Dimension Profile — 6 horizontal bars with scores and human-readable explanation per dimension
- Strengths — Green cards with evidence and dimension tag
- Structural Costs — White cards with severity badge and mitigation
- Attitude Recommendations — Gradient cards ranked by ROI
- Practice Matrix — Situation to principle to action table
- Health Indicators — Green/yellow/red dots for monitored vs unmonitored areas
- Next Steps — 2-3 concrete horizon cards
Optional sections (if /sophia was run in same session)
If the dimension profile and philosopher match are available from a prior
/sophia run in this session, include:
- Philosophical Identity — 2x2 grid of philosophy cards
- Division of Labor — Human-AI role visualization
Output
Save to ~/.claude/usage-data/curses-profile.html
Open in browser: open <filepath>
Edge Cases
- New user (<5 sessions): Analyze rules only. Present as "Configuration-based profile — behavioral data will improve accuracy over time."
- No extreme dimensions (all 35-65): "Your profile is notably balanced. This is itself a strength (Aristotelian phronesis) with its own shadow: you may lack the specialization that comes from extreme focus."
- User reframes curse as strategy: Accept the reframe. Update the strength-shadow pair to reflect the new category. Re-derive recommendations from the updated structure.
- Specific question provided: Orient the entire analysis toward answering that question. The report sections should reflect the specific inquiry.