AI Blocks › Think it through and decide
Rule origin tracer
Paste a rule or habit your team follows. Get where it came from, who it served and if it earns its place.
Rule origin tracer is a free AI skill for the job "Think it through and decide". Give the instructions to an AI assistant that supports the required files and tools, then review its output.
Free · No account · Made by AI Blocks
What it does
Many rules outlive the problem they were made for. Someone was burned once, or afraid, or short of time, and a rule grew out of it. Years later nobody remembers why, and people defend it as plain common sense. This skill takes the rule in the words people use. It asks who first needed it and what they feared or wanted, and whether it came from confidence or from a grudge or worry. It looks at the rule from at least two other points of view, such as a newcomer and a rival. It lists who gains and who pays today, then gives a call to keep, change or drop it, with a small test you can run before deciding for good.
You give it
- The rule, as people say it
- What you know of its history (when it started, who set it, what happened before) (optional)
- Who follows it and who is affected (optional)
You get
- The rule quoted as stated
- A short history of who needed it and why, with gaps marked
- Views from two or more other positions
- A list of who gains and who pays now, and a call with a small test
Use it when
- A rule or habit gets defended with "that is just how we do it".
- A new person asks why you do something and nobody has an answer.
- You are reviewing policies, pricing rules or ways of working.
How to use it
- Start a chat with the skill. Open it if you added it to your AI, or copy it and paste it in.
- Paste the rule in the words your team uses, not your tidy version.
- Add what you know of its start. Say "unknown" where you do not know.
- Ask a long-time member to read the origin story and correct it.
- Run the small test before changing the rule for everyone.