when-stuck
When Stuck routes you to the right problem-solving skill based on your specific stuck-symptom. Diagnose whether you're facing complexity spirals, innovation gaps, recurring patterns, flawed assumptions, scale uncertainty, or bugs—then apply the matching technique.
When Stuck helps you identify which problem-solving technique to use based on your specific stuck-symptom.
AI-generated summary based on this skill's SKILL.md
Decision gist · record as of 2026-07-11
When Stuck helps you identify which problem-solving technique to use based on your specific stuck-symptom. When Stuck routes you to the right problem-solving skill based on your specific stuck-symptom. Diagnose whether you're facing complexity spirals, innovation gaps, recurring patterns, flawed assumptions, scale uncertainty, or bugs—then apply the matching technique.
Use it when
- When Stuck identifies which technique fits your stuck-symptom.
- When Stuck routes this decision by first diagnosing your root problem.
Verify before relying
Read SKILL.md below before installing (2 files). Open directory: indexed for reading, not audited.
Install
PracticalSwan/agent-skills/when-stuck · repository language: Python
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Frequently asked questions
AI-generated answers based on this skill's SKILL.md and metadata
How do I get unstuck in coding when I don't know where to start?
When Stuck helps you diagnose your specific problem type first. Identify whether you're facing a complexity spiral (too many moving parts), an innovation gap (missing a new approach), a recurring pattern (same issue in multiple places), flawed assumptions (wrong mental model), scale uncertainty (will this work at size?), or a bug. Once diagnosed, When Stuck routes you to the matching problem-solving technique—debugging for bugs, refactoring for complexity, pattern recognition for repeats, assumption-breaking for mental blocks, or scaling validation for production readiness.
What problem-solving techniques should I use when stuck?
When Stuck identifies which technique fits your stuck-symptom. The main approaches are: debugging (for localized bugs), refactoring (for complexity spirals), pattern recognition (for recurring problems across your codebase), assumption-breaking (for innovation gaps and mental blocks), and scaling validation (for production readiness concerns). When Stuck diagnoses your situation and routes you to the right skill, or combines multiple techniques when one approach fails.
How do I decide between debugging, refactoring, or simplifying?
When Stuck routes this decision by first diagnosing your root problem. If you're chasing a specific failure, debug. If complexity is spiraling across your system, refactor. If you're stuck on the same problem in multiple places, apply pattern recognition. If your current approach feels fundamentally wrong, break through your assumptions. When Stuck's dispatch logic matches your symptom to the right technique, so you don't waste time on the wrong method.
When should I break through assumptions in code?
When Stuck flags assumption-breaking as your technique when you're stuck despite trying standard debugging or refactoring. This happens when your mental model of the problem is flawed, when you've hit an innovation gap, or when conventional solutions aren't working. When Stuck helps you recognize these blocks and guides you to inversion thinking and unconventional solution paths instead of spinning on the same approach.
How do I know if my solution will scale or if I'm stuck on edge cases?
When Stuck includes scale uncertainty and edge-case validation in its diagnosis. If you're unsure whether your solution handles production conditions, When Stuck routes you to scaling validation checks. This covers production readiness, edge cases, and whether your approach will work at real scale. When Stuck helps you distinguish between local bugs (debug), architectural problems (refactor), and scaling concerns (validate).
What is the unstuck workflow guide for when I'm stuck on a problem?
When Stuck's workflow is: first diagnose your stuck-symptom (complexity, innovation gap, patterns, assumptions, scale, or bugs), then route to the matching technique. If one approach fails, combine multiple methods. When Stuck helps you identify whether you're facing a complexity spiral, recurring pattern, flawed assumption, innovation gap, scale uncertainty, or a specific bug—then apply the right problem-solving skill instead of guessing.
SKILL.md
Rendered from the published skill. Quoted content, verbatim.
When Stuck - Problem-Solving Dispatch
Overview
Different stuck-types need different techniques. This skill helps you quickly identify which problem-solving skill to use.
Core principle: Match stuck-symptom to technique.
Quick Dispatch
```dot digraph stuck_dispatch { rankdir=TB; node [shape=box, style=rounded];
stuck [label="You're Stuck", shape=ellipse, style=filled, fillcolor=lightblue];
complexity [label="Same thing implemented 5+ ways?\nGrowing special cases?\nExcessive if/else?"];
innovation [label="Can't find fitting approach?\nConventional solutions inadequate?\nNeed breakthrough?"];
patterns [label="Same issue in different places?\nFeels familiar across domains?\nReinventing wheels?"];
assumptions [label="Solution feels forced?\n'This must be done this way'?\nStuck on assumptions?"];
scale [label="Will this work at production?\nEdge cases unclear?\nUnsure of limits?"];
bugs [label="Code behaving wrong?\nTest failing?\nUnexpected output?"];
(truncated - see the full file via the links below)
File tree — 2 files
when-stuck/CHANGELOG.md
when-stuck/SKILL.md
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Related skills
When Stuck diagnoses why you're stuck and routes you to the matching technique. It maps six stuck-types—complexity, innovation gaps, recurring patterns, forced assumptions, scale uncertainty, and code bugs—to their corresponding skills, plus combinations when one approach isn't enough.
Problem Solving provides a toolkit of six complementary techniques to move past stuck points and find elegant solutions. Each method—from collision-zone thinking to simplification cascades—targets a specific type of impasse, with a dispatch guide to match your situation to the right approach.
Exa Search brings neural semantic search to Claude Code, letting you find web content by concept and meaning rather than exact keywords. Use it for research across multiple perspectives, discovering similar content, or extracting code context from the web. Falls back gracefully to keyword search when semantic matching doesn't fit the task.
This skill sparks innovation by deliberately combining concepts from different domains to uncover novel solutions. You pick two unrelated ideas, force them together with "What if we treated X like Y?", then explore what emerges. It's designed for when conventional approaches feel stuck and you need breakthrough thinking, not incremental optimization.
This skill provides five distinct techniques for tackling different problem types—from complexity spirals to innovation blocks. Each method targets a specific stuck-ness pattern, with a dispatch system to match your symptom to the right approach. Combine techniques as needed for harder problems.
Problem Solving provides six targeted techniques for different types of stuck-ness: simplification cascades to unify special cases, collision-zone thinking for breakthrough ideas, meta-pattern recognition across domains, inversion exercises to question assumptions, the scale game to test extremes, and a dispatch guide to match your symptom to the right approach. Combine techniques as needed for complex problems.
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