WakeIQX

Appearance

reconstruct_reasoning ​

Explain WHY a context was created by analyzing its causality metadata.

Overview ​

The reconstruct_reasoning tool is part of Layer 1 (Causality Engine). It examines a context's causality metadata to explain the reasoning behind its creation.

Layer: Layer 1 - Causality Engine (Past)

Purpose: Understand the "why" behind decisions and actions

Temporal Focus: Past - reconstructing historical reasoning

Parameters ​

ParameterTypeRequiredDescription
snapshotIdstringYesID of the context to analyze

Parameter Details ​

snapshotId ​

The unique identifier (UUID) of the context snapshot to analyze.

How to get IDs:

  • From save_context response
  • From load_context results
  • From database queries

Returns ​

Formatted text explaining the reasoning:

**Action Type**: decision

**Rationale**: OAuth2 with PKCE is more secure than basic JWT for mobile apps because it prevents authorization code interception

**Context Summary**: Decision to use OAuth2 with PKCE flow for mobile app authentication

Fields explained:

  • Action Type: What kind of action created this (conversation, decision, file_edit, tool_use, research)
  • Rationale: Explicit reasoning saved with the context
  • Context Summary: AI-generated summary of the content

Examples ​

Basic Usage ​

typescript
// First, save a context with rationale
save_context({
  project: "auth-refactor",
  content: "Switch to OAuth2 for better security",
  metadata: {
    actionType: "decision",
    rationale: "OAuth2 provides better token management and security"
  }
});

// Later, reconstruct the reasoning
reconstruct_reasoning({
  snapshotId: "abc-123-def-456"
});

Result:

**Action Type**: decision

**Rationale**: OAuth2 provides better token management and security

**Context Summary**: Switch to OAuth2 for better security

Understand Past Decisions ​

typescript
// Load a recent context
const contexts = load_context({ project: "my-project", limit: 1 });

// Extract ID (parse from text response)
const contextId = parseId(contexts);

// Understand why this decision was made
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: contextId });

Use Cases ​

1. Decision Auditing ​

Track why choices were made:

typescript
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "decision-id" });

// Returns the explicit rationale
// Useful for reviews and post-mortems

2. Knowledge Transfer ​

Help new team members understand context:

typescript
// New developer asks: "Why did we choose Redis?"
const contexts = search_context({ query: "Redis" });

// Get the decision context ID
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "redis-decision-id" });

// Shows the original rationale

3. Debugging Decision Chains ​

Trace back through a series of decisions:

typescript
// Current state isn't what you expected
// Reconstruct reasoning at each step

reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "latest-decision" });
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "previous-decision" });
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "original-decision" });

Action Types ​

The actionType field classifies what created the context:

TypeDescriptionExample
conversationUser dialogue/questionUser asks: "How should we handle auth?"
decisionStrategic choiceDecision: Use OAuth2
file_editCode modificationImplemented OAuth2 flow in auth.ts
tool_useExternal tool callRan tests, deployed to staging
researchInformation gatheringResearched OAuth2 vs JWT security

Integration with Layer 1 ​

Combine with build_causal_chain ​

typescript
// Build the full chain
const chain = build_causal_chain({ snapshotId: "decision-id" });

// Then reconstruct reasoning for each step
// (You'd iterate through the chain)
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "step-1-id" });
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "step-2-id" });
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: "step-3-id" });

This gives you both the structure (chain) and semantics (reasoning).

Best Practices ​

1. Always Provide Rationale When Saving ​

typescript
// ✅ Good: Includes rationale
save_context({
  content: "Decision: Use PostgreSQL",
  metadata: {
    actionType: "decision",
    rationale: "Need JSONB support and better concurrent writes than MySQL"
  }
});

// ❌ Bad: No rationale
save_context({
  content: "Decision: Use PostgreSQL",
  metadata: {
    actionType: "decision"
  }
});

2. Use Descriptive Action Types ​

Choose the action type that best describes what happened:

  • User asked question → conversation
  • You gathered info → research
  • You made choice → decision
  • You wrote code → file_edit
  • You ran tool → tool_use

3. Combine with Search ​

typescript
// Find decision contexts
const decisions = search_context({ query: "decision database" });

// Extract ID and reconstruct reasoning
reconstruct_reasoning({ snapshotId: decisionId });

See Also ​