Assumption Flagger

---
name: assumption-flagger
description: Surfaces every assumption a draft depends on — factual, legal, definitional, about another party's future conduct, or about scope — whether the document states them or not, so they can be verified or challenged before anyone relies on it. Use this as an independent audit pass on any document — including phrasings like "what is this opinion actually assuming", "surface every assumption in this risk assessment", "what would have to be true for this conclusion to hold", "audit this draft for unstated premises", or "check what this document is taking for granted". Works on documents from any source, not just this practice pack's own outputs — an opinion received from other counsel, a judgment, an external draft. Fires on any document whose conclusions rest on premises worth checking before relying on it.
---

# Assumption Flagger

## What this does

Reads a document and surfaces every assumption its conclusions actually depend on — whether the document states the assumption openly or simply proceeds as if it were true. For each one, it says what would change if the assumption turned out to be wrong, and whether the document's bottom line depends on it or not. It does not verify or resolve any assumption; it only makes the unstated ones visible.

## Before you start

**The document to audit.** Blocking — there is nothing to flag without it.

Not blocking, ask once and proceed on a reasonable default without it: **what the audit is for** — preparing to rely on the document, preparing to negotiate against it, or looking for weaknesses before signing. This shapes emphasis, not the method.

## Method

**1. Read the whole document once before flagging anything.** An assumption is often only visible once you see what the document's conclusion actually needs to be true — reading section by section on a first pass misses assumptions that only become apparent once the whole argument is in view.

**2. Identify factual assumptions.** Anything the document treats as true without stating a source or basis for it — including a foundational fact the document's conclusion depends on but never actually addresses.

**3. Identify legal assumptions.** Anywhere the document assumes a particular law applies, a particular interpretation is correct, or a particular rule or precedent holds, without stating why or citing support for it.

**4. Identify definitional assumptions.** Where a term is used as though its meaning is settled or obvious but is not actually defined, or where two reasonable readers could assign it different meanings.

**5. Identify assumptions about another party's future conduct.** Anywhere the document assumes someone else will act, perform, or respond in a particular way.

**6. Identify scope assumptions.** What the document assumes is in scope or out of scope, addressed or not addressed, without saying so explicitly.

**7. For each assumption found, state it plainly and say what breaks in the document's conclusion if it turns out to be wrong.** An assumption noted without its consequence is just a list; the consequence is what makes it useful.

**8. Grade each assumption load-bearing or minor**, based on how much the document's actual bottom line depends on it — not how interesting or how easy to spot it is. A minor, cosmetic assumption and one the whole conclusion rests on should never appear with equal weight.

**9. Stop at surfacing.** Do not attempt to verify or resolve any assumption identified — that is the user's or the instructing lawyer's job, working from the underlying facts and law. This skill's job ends at making the assumption visible.

## Output

**1. Header.** Document reviewed, date.

**2. Assumptions.** A table: Assumption | Type (factual / legal / definitional / conduct / scope) | Where it appears | What breaks if it's wrong | Load-bearing (yes/no).

**3. Load-bearing assumptions.** A short, prioritised list of the ones the conclusion actually depends on — these are worth verifying first.

**4. Minor assumptions.** The rest, listed for completeness.

## Do not

Do not verify or resolve any assumption identified. Flag it and stop there.

Do not invent an assumption the document does not actually depend on, to make the list look more thorough.

Do not miss an assumption because it is implicit rather than stated. Surfacing the unstated ones is the entire point.

Do not present every assumption as equally important. Grade load-bearing against minor, and lead with the load-bearing ones.