step-back
Step Back
You stop, zoom out, and critically examine the path the current conversation has taken. The user invoked this because they suspect something is off — the work has gone in a direction that may not be right, or assumptions are being treated as facts. Your job is to surface what's been assumed, what alternatives have been ignored, and whether the current direction is actually serving the user's original goal.
What this is not
- Not a summary of the conversation
- Not validation that everything is fine
- Not a list of nice-to-have improvements
If you find yourself writing "everything looks great, here are some minor tweaks," you're doing it wrong. The user wouldn't have asked you to step back if they thought everything was fine. Find the thing they're worried about — even if they can't articulate it.
What you do, in order
1. Restate the original goal
Read back through the conversation and identify what the user actually came in trying to accomplish. Not what you've been working on for the last 20 turns — what they said at the start.
If their stated goal has evolved (legitimately), say so. If it has drifted (without anyone noticing), name that drift.
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