# Assumption Surface

> |

- **Type:** Skill
- **Install:** `agentstack add skill-kouko-monkey-skills-assumption-surface`
- **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior
- **Seller:** [kouko](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/kouko)
- **Installs:** 0
- **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills)
- **Latest version:** 0.1.0
- **License:** MIT
- **Upstream author:** [kouko](https://github.com/kouko)
- **Source:** https://github.com/kouko/monkey-skills/tree/main/deconstruct-toolkit/skills/assumption-surface

## Install

```sh
agentstack add skill-kouko-monkey-skills-assumption-surface
```

Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent.

## About

# Assumption Surface

A focused, atomic skill: extract the **hidden assumptions** that an
external text takes for granted. Where `argument-deconstruct` builds
a full Toulmin layout, this skill produces a flat **assumption
table** — faster, broader, less structural.

The output is a working surface for the user to inspect, not a
finished argument. It is what you'd run before a board meeting to
prepare counter-questions, or before a contract signing to spot what
the other side is *quietly assuming you'll grant*.

## When to use

Trigger phrases (any language):

- 「揭露這份備忘錄的隱性假設」「這個策略在假設什麼」「stress-test 這些主張」
- "find the hidden assumptions", "what is this *assuming*", "stress-test these claims before deciding"
- "surface the implicit world-model"

Skip when:

- User wants a **full argument deconstruction** with claim-grounds-warrant chain — use `argument-deconstruct`
- User wants **all design layers** (rhetoric / frame / persuasion / etc) — use `artifact-deconstruct`
- User wants to doubt their **own** premises — use `philosophers-toolkit:descartes-methodical-doubt`
- Target is 

## Source claims (numbered)
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
...

## Assumption table

| # | Assumption | Source claim(s) | Strength | Falsifiability test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Assumes that ... | claim 1 | Foundational | Falsified if ... |
| 2 | Assumes that ... | claim 2 | Load-bearing | (n/a if not foundational) |
| 3 | Assumes that ... | symptomatic reading | Decorative | (n/a) |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

## Foundational assumptions worth challenging

For each foundational assumption, propose a counter-question:

- **Assumption 1**: . **Counter-question**: ...
- **Assumption N**: ...

## Bottom line

```

## Lenses available

This skill ships with 1 self-contained lens reference:

- [`references/lens-symptomatic-reading.md`](references/lens-symptomatic-reading.md) — Althusser-influenced "reading the absent" (1968 / 1970 *Reading Capital*)

Toulmin appears in this skill via the reverse-Toulmin protocol (which
inverts the standard direction). The full Toulmin reference lives in
`argument-deconstruct/references/lens-toulmin.md`. Per ADR-0002,
each skill is self-contained — this skill's protocol embeds the
relevant Toulmin material rather than cross-referencing.

## Sample fixtures

- [`assets/sample-company-strategy-memo.md`](assets/sample-company-strategy-memo.md)
- [`assets/sample-tweet-thread-productivity.md`](assets/sample-tweet-thread-productivity.md)

## Anti-patterns

- **Confusing "claim" with "assumption"**: a claim is what's *said*; an assumption is what's *taken for granted to make the claim work*.
- **Inflating assumption count**: more is not better. 5–15 is the sweet spot. 30+ assumptions usually means you're listing claims as assumptions.
- **Decorative-only output**: if all your surfaced assumptions are "decorative," you have not pressed hard enough — every text rests on at least one foundational assumption.
- **Skipping falsifiability test**: foundational assumptions without falsifiability tests are not yet useful for the user. They are just labels.
- **Treating symptomatic reading as gotcha-hunting**: the goal is to surface what's structurally absent, not to catch the writer in tonal slips. Stay structural.

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [kouko](https://github.com/kouko)
- **Source:** [kouko/monkey-skills](https://github.com/kouko/monkey-skills)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.

## Pricing

- **Free** — Free

## Security capabilities

Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access:

- **Network access:** no
- **Filesystem access:** no
- **Shell / process execution:** no
- **Environment & secrets:** no
- **Dynamic code execution:** no

*"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.*


## Versions

- **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source.

## Links

- Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-kouko-monkey-skills-assumption-surface
- Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/kouko
- Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse

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