The Issue
The effort level table in OBSERVE defines 8 tiers, but Advanced and Deep have no guidance on when to use them:
| Tier |
Budget |
When |
| Instant |
<10s |
"right now", trivial lookup, greeting |
| Fast |
<1min |
"quickly", simple fix, skill invocation |
| Standard |
<2min |
Normal request, no time pressure stated |
| Extended |
<8min |
Still needed relatively fast, but quality must be extraordinary |
| Advanced |
<16min |
(no "When" criteria — description same as Deep) |
| Deep |
<32min |
(no "When" criteria — description same as Advanced) |
| Comprehensive |
<120m |
Don't feel rushed by time |
| Loop |
Unbounded |
External loop, PRD iteration |
Both Advanced and Deep have identical descriptions: "Full phases, checkpoints every 1 min" — making it impossible to distinguish when one should be selected over the other.
Suggested Fix
Add "When" guidance. For example:
- Advanced: "Multi-system changes, cross-cutting concerns, significant refactors"
- Deep: "Architectural decisions, novel problem domains, research-heavy work"
Location
- Lines ~40-41 in
versions/TheAlgorithm_Latest.md
The Issue
The effort level table in OBSERVE defines 8 tiers, but Advanced and Deep have no guidance on when to use them:
Both Advanced and Deep have identical descriptions: "Full phases, checkpoints every 1 min" — making it impossible to distinguish when one should be selected over the other.
Suggested Fix
Add "When" guidance. For example:
Location
versions/TheAlgorithm_Latest.md