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Debate Templates

Copy-paste templates for common debate scenarios. Use these as prompts when starting a Ploidy debate.

Architecture Decision

Deep session prompt:

Start a Ploidy debate: "[QUESTION]"

Context: We have [TEAM SIZE] engineers, [SERVICE COUNT] services, and [KEY CONSTRAINT]. Our current approach is [CURRENT STATE]. Consider our deployment pipeline, team structure, and operational burden.

Fresh session prompt:

Join Ploidy debate [DEBATE_ID]

Analyze the architecture question purely on technical merit. You have no context about the existing system — evaluate based on first principles.

Examples

Question Why it works for Ploidy
Monorepo vs polyrepo? Deep knows team dependencies; Fresh sees coupling risks
REST vs gRPC for internal APIs? Deep knows existing middleware; Fresh evaluates protocol merits
SQL vs NoSQL for this data model? Deep knows query patterns; Fresh spots schema assumptions
Microservices vs modular monolith? Deep knows operational burden; Fresh questions necessity

Code Review

Deep session prompt:

Start a Ploidy debate: "Review this implementation approach for [FEATURE]"

Context: [Paste the relevant code or describe the approach]. This builds on our existing [MODULE] which handles [RESPONSIBILITY]. We chose this approach because [REASON].

Fresh session prompt:

Join Ploidy debate [DEBATE_ID]

Review the implementation for correctness, edge cases, and design issues. No prior knowledge of the codebase is needed.

Technology Selection

Deep session prompt:

Start a Ploidy debate: "Should we adopt [TECHNOLOGY] for [USE CASE]?"

Context: We currently use [CURRENT TECH]. Our team has experience with [SKILLS]. Key constraints: [CONSTRAINTS]. Timeline: [DEADLINE].

Fresh session prompt:

Join Ploidy debate [DEBATE_ID]

Evaluate the technology choice on its own merits. Consider maturity, community, performance, and long-term maintenance.

Refactoring Decision

Deep session prompt:

Start a Ploidy debate: "Should we refactor [MODULE] now or ship the feature first?"

Context: [MODULE] has [TECH DEBT DESCRIPTION]. The upcoming feature requires [CHANGES]. Refactoring would take approximately [TIME]. The feature deadline is [DATE].

Fresh session prompt:

Join Ploidy debate [DEBATE_ID]

Given only the refactoring question, evaluate the trade-off between technical debt and delivery speed.

Security Audit

Deep session prompt:

Start a Ploidy debate: "Is our authentication flow for [FEATURE] secure?"

Context: [Describe the auth flow]. We use [AUTH PROVIDER] with [TOKEN TYPE]. The flow handles [SENSITIVE DATA]. Previous security review noted [PAST ISSUES].

Fresh session prompt:

Join Ploidy debate [DEBATE_ID]

Audit the authentication flow for vulnerabilities. Apply OWASP Top 10 and assume zero trust.

Tips

  1. Be specific in the Deep prompt — include real constraints, team size, deadlines
  2. Keep the Fresh prompt minimal — the whole point is zero context
  3. Architecture decisions work best — they have clear trade-offs that benefit from dual perspectives
  4. Watch for propose_alternative — Fresh sessions often find third options that Deep sessions are blind to
  5. Irreducible disagreements are valuable — they flag decisions that need human judgment, not more AI debate