# theory-fidelity

This skill checks whether a project’s claimed theories are reflected in its mechanisms and whether those mechanisms match the theories. Run it after adding a theory or changing its implementation.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 47
- Author: haabe
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/haabe/mycelium/tree/HEAD/plugins/mycelium/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/theory-fidelity

## What it does

For each theory a project claims to use, the skill checks whether a mechanism exists, whether it represents the theory faithfully, and what supports the assessment. It also records version currency and the kind of evidence behind the theory. This helps distinguish an implemented idea from a citation that has no working counterpart.

The skill is designed for Mycelium, where `docs/theories.md` lists the claimed theories. In another project, it checks the document that tracks theories or methodologies. Before making new findings, it requires reviewing the previous audit and recording a reasoned status for each item; open findings need a horizon. To install in Claude Code, run `npx skills add haabe/mycelium --skill theory-fidelity -a claude-code`. The skill file is `~/.claude/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md`.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add haabe/mycelium --skill theory-fidelity -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/theory-fidelity/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add haabe/mycelium --skill theory-fidelity -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add haabe/mycelium --skill theory-fidelity -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install haabe/mycelium theory-fidelity
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add haabe/mycelium --skill theory-fidelity -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/haabe/mycelium --path plugins/mycelium/skills/theory-fidelity
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add haabe/mycelium --skill theory-fidelity -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/haabe/mycelium/tree/HEAD/plugins/mycelium/skills/theory-fidelity/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- check whether project mechanisms implement the claimed theories
- find theories that have no mechanism beyond their description
- flag undocumented deviations from a theory
- review cited versions and the basis for each theory’s evidence
- resolve or carry forward findings from an earlier audit

## Example prompts
- Audit the theories in `docs/theories.md` against the mechanisms in this project.
- Recheck theory fidelity after I change a gate, and compare the results with the previous audit.
- Review the previous audit findings and check whether the cited theory versions are current.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 13dc0eac1bc3023e.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 13dc0eac1bc3023e
```text
---
name: theory-fidelity
description: "Audit whether the theories/methodologies a project claims to implement are faithfully operationalized — or name-dropped, partially built, distorted, or over-claimed. Source-grounds the load-bearing theories; tags the rest provisional. Run periodically alongside /framework-health."
metadata:
  instruction_budget: "55"
  framework_dependency: "mycelium"
  framework_dependency_note: "Designed to run within Mycelium (https://github.com/haabe/mycelium), where docs/theories.md provides the claimed-theory inventory. On a non-Mycelium project it audits whatever theory/methodology doc the project maintains; with no such doc it reports the absence. Install: /plugin install mycelium@haabe-mycelium."
---

# Theory Fidelity Audit

Most framework checks evaluate *process* (cycle health, gates) or *artifact performance* (evals, DORA). None of them ask the question this skill exists for: **for every theory a project claims to represent, is the mapped mechanism actually faithful to what the theory says — or is it theatre?** This is the audit of the theory→mechanism mapping itself.

The framework's own stated bar (`docs/theories.md`): *"every theory is mechanism-mapped … citations without mechanism-mapping are theatre."* This skill holds the project to that bar — including holding the theory doc to it.

## When to Use

- Quarterly, alongside `/mycelium:framework-health` (process health) — this is the theory-fidelity half.
- After adding/citing a new theory, or after editing a theory's mechanism (skill/gate/schema).
- When a citation looks decorative, or when a doc claims a mechanism you suspect doesn't exist.

## The Grading Rubric (five axes)

For each claimed theory, record:

1. **Representation** — `Mechanized` (a skill/gate/schema/canvas applies it) · `Prose-only` (cited + described, no mechanism) · `Absent`.
2. **Fidelity** (only if Mechanized):
   - `Faithful` — the mechanism matches the theory's real claims.
   - `Justified-Adaptation` — the mechanism deliberately diverges **and the rationale is documented in-repo**. Divergence with **no** documented rationale is `Distorted`, not Justified.
   - `Partial` — a faithful subset, with a named gap.
   - `Distorted` — diverges without rationale, or misrepresents the theory.
   - `Over-claim` — the theory doc claims more than the mechanism delivers (the project's own "theatre" failure mode).
   - `Name-only` — cited but not actually mechanized.
3. **Evidence-basis** — `source-grounded` (verified against the author's canonical work) · `model-knowledge` (from the agent's training — **provisional / consistency-only**). *This axis is about how YOU know. Axes 4 and 5 are about the theory itself; do not collapse them.*
```
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