Stop Overthinking

---
name: stop-overthinking
description: Use when analysis paralysis, speculative branch explosion, repeated replanning, architecture rabbit holes, or indecision prevents a bounded implementation or evidence-producing action.
---

# Stop Overthinking

## Core principle

Evidence earns investigation. A reversible decision needs the smallest safe action, not a perfect mental model. Read [overthinking](../../.ai/guides/overthinking-analysis-paralysis.md) and [rabbit holes](../../.ai/guides/rabbit-holes-scope-drift.md).

## Procedure

1. Stop adding hypotheses.
2. Restate objective, remaining requirements, and actual blocker.
3. Label facts, supported inferences, assumptions, and unknowns.
4. Park branches that lack evidence or completion impact.
5. Define one question and the evidence that would answer it.
6. Take the smallest bounded experiment or implementation step.
7. After the result, act, change strategy materially, or report a blocker.

## Quick reference

Search, smallest relevant read, evidence, action. Two full replans without major evidence is the limit. New syntax is not a new strategy.

## Common mistakes

- Writing a larger plan as a cure for planning loops.
- Preserving speculation because time was already spent.
- Redesigning architecture for a local task.
- Confusing more reasoning with progress.

## Stop condition

Stop when one evidence-backed next action exists or finite completion proof is already satisfied.