Spike

Input: [topic]

Use the input as the topic. Establish a testable hypothesis, pass and fail criteria, scope, and a time and resource budget before experiments. Ask for missing decisions one at a time; do not proceed on an undefined hypothesis. Until one is set, ask without a verdict.

Choose the fewest experiments that distinguish the outcomes, at most four per spike. For each, state what it measures and the command or observation. This skill does not authorize live, paid, destructive, or repository-changing experiments. Request approval where needed.

Run safe, available experiments. Record actual output and elapsed time; label unavailable experiments human-run or blocked. Missing evidence is inconclusive, not failure or success.

Lead with PROCEED, PIVOT, or INCONCLUSIVE and its reasons. Then hypothesis, criteria, budget versus observed time, a table of experiments (experiment, measures, method, result), and limitations. List hypotheses raised but not tested under Open. No file deliverable unless requested.