earthlike-tectonics-science - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: earthlike-tectonics-science description: Scientific guardrails and reference workflow for Earth-like tectonic world simulation. Use when designing or reviewing plate kinematics, boundary evolution, supercontinent cycles, subduction/rifting/orogeny/accretion/volcanism logic, or when adding plausibility checks and diagnostics for deterministic worldbuilding tools.

Earthlike Tectonics Science

Overview

Use this skill to ground tectonic simulation decisions in Earth-system process knowledge while keeping outputs deterministic, reproducible, and explicit about uncertainty.

Reference Loading

Load only what is needed:

For process mechanics and event persistence expectations, read references/process-primer.md.
For numeric guardrails and rough Earth-like bounds, read references/quantitative-ranges.md.
For implementation-time validation and diagnostics behavior, read references/plausibility-checks.md.
For canonical textbooks, papers, and agency references, read references/source-canon.md.
For mapping the Worldbuilding Pasta post to scientific interpretations, read references/worldbuilding-pasta-crosswalk.md.

Workflow

Define assumptions.

Assume Earth-like gravity, heat budget, and material behavior unless the request overrides it.
State active simulation mode (fast_plausible or hybrid_rigor).
State whether results are strict constraints or exploratory guidance.

Map features to process classes.

Map requested behavior into plate kinematics, boundary semantics, event synthesis, and terrain coupling.
Keep climate out of scope.

Apply sanity ranges.

Use references/quantitative-ranges.md to set fail/warn bands.
Keep hard failures for geometric impossibilities and deterministic invariants.
Keep soft warnings for low-confidence but still plausible edge cases.

Run plausibility checks.

Use references/plausibility-checks.md to evaluate continuity, boundary consistency, lifecycle realism, and coverage diagnostics.
Report every failed check explicitly.

Produce implementation guidance.

Recommend deterministic defaults and provenance fields.
Include uncertainty text where evidence is weak or parameter ranges are broad.

Cite reference basis.

Tie recommendations to specific entries in references/source-canon.md.
Call out when guidance is heuristic from references/worldbuilding-pasta-crosswalk.md.

Non-Negotiables

Preserve deterministic behavior for fixed seed and config.
Do not suppress uncertainty or coverage gaps; surface them in diagnostics.
Prefer physically informed approximations over decorative noise.
Preserve non-expert usability by hiding advanced controls unless explicitly requested.

Output Contract

When using this skill, return:

Explicit assumptions (planet baseline, mode, timespan).
Process-level rationale (why this tectonic behavior is plausible).
Check outcomes (fail/warn/pass with thresholds).
Remaining uncertainty and recommended next checks.