---
name: mohitagw15856/thread-to-decision
source: https://app.decimal.ai/s/mohitagw15856-thread-to-decision@1/SKILL.md
source_sha256: 5f4409c6bc1b
---

# Thread To Decision Skill

Threads orbit because nobody performs the landing: forty messages in, three positions have emerged, two side-quests have spawned, and every participant believes a different thing was "basically agreed." The landing is a *move*, performable by anyone (not just the boss): summarize the positions fairly with names, isolate the actual question from the side-quests, inject the missing structure — a decider and a deadline ([async-instead](../async-instead/SKILL.md) closure rules) — and when the call lands, record it where decisions live, because a decision that exists only at message 47 doesn't exist.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The summary message** — the thread compressed: the question, the positions with names, the side-quests parked
- **The structure injection** — decider named (or proposed), deadline set, silence-meaning declared
- **The closure message** — the decision, its why, dissent acknowledged
- **The record** — the decision logged durably, linked back to the thread

## Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:
- **The thread** — the actual messages; summarizing positions requires reading them, and attribution requires care ("A argued X" must be fair enough that A nods)
- **The user's standing** — thread owner, participant, or the person with authority to name a decider? The moves flex — a participant *proposes* the structure ("suggest [name] calls this by Friday?"); an owner installs it
- **The real question** — threads braid several; the user's read on which one matters (the summary tests it against the thread)
- **Where decisions live** — the log, the doc, the channel pin; the record needs a durable home

## Framework: The Landing Rules

1. **Summarize before structuring:** the landing message opens by compressing fairly — "Where we are: the question is X. [A] and [B] favor option 1 (reasons); [C] raises the cost concern; the tangent about Y is real but separate." A summary that participants recognize buys the standing to impose structure; a partisan summary restarts the war with citations.
2. **Isolate the question, park the quests:** threads orbit partly because three questions share one thread — the landing names *the* question and explicitly parks the others ("Y deserves its own thread — starting it separately"). One thread, one decision.
3. **Inject the missing trio:** decider, deadline, silence-meaning — "Proposal: [name] decides by Thu EOD; comments until then; silence = can-live-with-it." When the user lacks authority to appoint, the *proposal* of structure almost always gets adopted, because everyone is tired of orbiting — the mover's advantage.
4. **Close with the why and the dissent:** the decision message states the call, two sentences of why, and names the road not taken ("going with 1; C's cost concern is real — we'll cap the spend at X to address it"). Acknowledged dissent ends threads; ignored dissent schedules the sequel.
5. **Record or relitigate:** the decision goes to the durable home (the decision log, the project doc) with a link back — and the thread gets the final message pointing there. Six weeks later, "wait, did we decide this?" gets a link instead of a rematch. This is the [decision-meeting-format](../decision-meeting-format/SKILL.md) record discipline, applied to the async venue where it's skipped most.

## Output Format

# Thread Landing: [topic] — [N] messages in

## The Summary Message (post this)
[The question · positions with names, fairly · parked side-quests · the structure proposal: decider, deadline, silence-meaning]

## The Closure Message (when decided)
[The call · the two-sentence why · dissent acknowledged with its accommodation if any]

## The Record
[The durable entry: decision, why, date, thread link · posted at (home) · the thread's final pointer message]

## Quality Checks

- [ ] The summary would be endorsed by each summarized participant
- [ ] Exactly one question survived; side-quests got explicit parking
- [ ] Decider, deadline, and silence-meaning were all injected
- [ ] The closure acknowledges dissent by name and content
- [ ] The record lives outside the thread with links both ways

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not structure before summarizing — unearned structure reads as a power move and gets litigated
- [ ] Do not summarize partisanly — one slanted attribution costs the whole landing
- [ ] Do not let three questions share the landing — braided threads orbit forever
- [ ] Do not close without the dissent line — smooth closes breed rough reopenings
- [ ] Do not leave the decision at message 47 — un-recorded decisions have a half-life of six weeks