art-of-war（孙子兵法）

Art of War

Apply Sun Tzu's 13 chapters to AI agent organization and orchestration. This skill provides a framework for strategic decision-making about when, how, and which agents to deploy for maximum effectiveness with minimum waste.

Core Principles

知彼知己 (Know Enemy, Know Yourself)

• 知彼: Understand the task deeply — requirements, constraints, success criteria
• 知己: Know your agents' capabilities, limitations, and costs
• 百战不殆: With both, every agent deployment is calculated, not hopeful

上兵伐谋 (Best Strategy Attacks Plans)

• Planning > Execution. Invest in task analysis before spawning agents
• A well-planned single agent beats three confused agents
• "Win before fighting" — structure the problem so the solution is obvious

奇正相生 (Orthodox + Unorthodox)

• 正: Standard workflows, proven patterns, reliable agents
• 奇: Creative approaches, novel combinations, experimental agents
• Use 正 for reliability, 奇 for breakthrough. Never rely on 奇 alone.

速战速决 (Speed is Essential)

• Prolonged agent runs waste tokens and drift from intent
• Set clear termination conditions upfront
• If an agent isn't making progress in 2-3 iterations, reassess

先胜后战 (Victory Before Battle)

• Ensure conditions favor success before deploying agents
• If you can't articulate what "winning" looks like, don't start
• Retreat is better than wasting resources on unwinnable tasks

开工前自检（必用）

每次部署 agent 前，填这个表。填不完别发。

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 五事自检 FIVE CONSTANTS                            │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 道：这任务值得做吗？对齐目标吗？                    │
│   □ 是  □ 否  □ 不确定                             │
│                                                    │
│ 天：现在是时候吗？依赖准备好了吗？                  │
│   □ 是  □ 否  □ 不确定                             │
│                                                    │
│ 地：数据/上下文/工具齐了吗？                        │
│   □ 是  □ 否  □ 不确定                             │
│                                                    │
│ 将：有合适的 agent 吗？能力匹配吗？                  │
│   □ 是  □ 否  □ 不确定                             │
│                                                    │
│ 法：流程清楚吗？什么叫"做完"？                      │
│   □ 是  □ 否  □ 不确定                             │
│                                                    │
│ 得分：___/5                                        │
│ ≥4: 可以发  |  3: 先补弱点  |  <3: 别发            │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

三反验证（输出事实前必做）

要验证的事实：________________

□ 来源 1（Agent 内部知识）：________________
□ 来源 2（外部搜索/API）：________________
□ 来源 3（用户上下文/文档）：________________

一致 → 信  |  不一致 → 查

信号监控（迭代中盯这些）

⚠ 问同样的问题第二次 → 缺上下文，补
⚠ 输出越来越长 → 在填充，停
⚠ 过度自信 → 要来源，验
⚠ 回避问题 → 不会，直说
⚠ 循环论证 → 卡住，重定向

看到任一信号 → 立刻干预，别等第 5 次

迭代限制（写死）

最大迭代次数：3 次（默认）
Token 预算：_______
超时：_______ 分钟

到限不出结果 → 强制结论，停

The Thirteen Chapters → Agent Patterns

1. 始计篇 (Laying Plans) — Task Assessment

Before deploying any agent, run the Five Constants + Seven Metrics:

五事 (Five Constants):

1. 道 (Wisdom): Does this task align with overall goals?
2. 天 (Timing): Is now the right time? Dependencies ready?
3. 地 (Environment): Do we have the right context/data/tools?
4. 将 (Capability): Which agent(s) have the right skills?
5. 法 (Process): What's the workflow? Success criteria?

七计 (Seven Metrics):

• Which side has better task clarity?
• Which side has more capable agents?
• Which side has better context/data?
• Which side has clearer success criteria?
• Which side has better tool access?
• Which side has more disciplined execution?
• Which side will waste fewer resources?

Decision: If you can't answer these, don't deploy. Plan first.

2. 作战篇 (Waging War) — Cost Awareness

Agent runs cost tokens. Treat them like war costs:

• 速战速决: Set iteration limits. Force conclusions.
• 因粮于敌: Use existing outputs/data; don't regenerate what exists
• 胜久则钝: Long-running agents lose focus and waste tokens
• 预算先行: Estimate token cost before starting; track as you go

Rule: If a task can be done in 1 agent iteration, don't use 3.

3. 谋攻篇 (Attack by Stratagem) — Planning Over Force

Hierarchy of agent deployment:

1. 上策: Restructure the problem so it solves itself (no agent needed)
2. 中策: Single focused agent with clear instructions
3. 下策: Multiple agents in complex orchestration

Avoid siege warfare: Don't throw more agents at a poorly-defined problem.

全胜思维: The best outcome is winning without fighting — automate or eliminate the task entirely.

4. 军形篇 (Tactical Dispositions) — Defense First

Before offense, ensure defense:

• What can go wrong? (Hallucination, outdated info, tool failures)
• What's the rollback plan if the agent makes things worse?
• What guardrails prevent catastrophic outputs?

先为不可胜: Make yourself undefeatable first — have validation, version control, and undo capability.

以待敌之可胜: Then wait for the opportunity — deploy when conditions are favorable.

5. 兵势篇 (Energy/Impetus) — Momentum & Combination

Create unstoppable momentum:

• 势 (Shi): Build configurations where each agent output naturally triggers the next
• 奇正: Combine standard agents (正) with creative approaches (奇)
• 节 (Timing): Release agents in waves, not all at once

Example pattern: Research agent → Synthesis agent → Critique agent → Final polish Each builds on the previous, creating momentum.

6. 虚实篇 (Weak Points & Strong) — Strategic Targeting

Avoid strength, attack weakness:

• Identify the critical bottleneck in the task
• Don't waste agent capacity on parts you can handle yourself
• Deploy agents where they have comparative advantage

避实击虚: If an agent struggles with nuance, handle the nuance yourself; let it handle the bulk work.

致人而不致于人: Control where the agent focuses; don't let it drift.

7. 军争篇 (Maneuvering) — Indirect Approaches

The longest path may be fastest:

• Sometimes 2-3 focused agents beat 1 generalist agent
• Sometimes doing background research first saves 10 iterations later
• "Appear weak when strong" — let the agent explore naive approaches first, then guide

以迂为直: A seeming detour (extra planning, extra validation) often reaches the goal faster.

8. 九变篇 (Nine Variations) — Adaptability

Agents must adapt to changing conditions:

• Have contingency plans: If agent A fails, what's plan B?
• 将在外，君命有所不受: Give agents autonomy within boundaries
• Recognize when to change strategy mid-execution

Five dangerous agent faults:

1. Reckless iteration (burns tokens)
2. Excessive caution (never completes)
3. Quick temper (argues with user)
4. Over-optimization (loses the goal)
5. Blind compliance (no pushback on bad instructions)

Watch for these; intervene early.

9. 行军篇 (Marching) — Environmental Awareness

Read the signals:

• 相敌 (Observing the enemy): Watch agent outputs for drift, hallucination, confusion
• 信号 (Signals): Repeated questions = unclear instructions; circular reasoning = stuck
• 地形 (Terrain): Some tasks are "difficult ground" — high uncertainty, need more oversight

When to intervene:

• Agent asks the same question twice
• Output quality degrades over iterations
• Agent is confident but wrong

10. 地形篇 (Terrain) — Task Classification

Six terrain types → Six task types:

11. 九地篇 (Nine Grounds) — Commitment Levels

Match resource commitment to task importance:

Most tasks are 散地 or 轻地 — don't over-invest.

12. 火攻篇 (Fire Attack) — Tool Usage

Fire = powerful tools (code execution, API calls, external data):

• 五种火 (Five fires):

1. 人火 (Human fire): User-provided data/context 2. 积火 (Accumulated fire): Cached/prepared resources 3. 辎火 (Supply fire): Tool/API access 4. 库火 (Arsenal fire): Code execution 5. 队火 (Unit fire): Multi-agent collaboration

用火的时机 (When to use fire):

• 行必有备 (Always prepared): Have fallback if tool fails
• 发火有时 (Right timing): Don't use tools prematurely
• 发火在早 (Early): Use tools early to validate direction

Warning: Fire can burn you. Validate tool outputs; don't trust blindly.

13. 用间篇 (Spies) — Information Gathering

Five types of intelligence sources:

关键原则:

• 三反: Cross-verify with 3+ independent sources
• 不可偏信: Never trust a single source
• 先知: Gather intelligence before making decisions

Quick Decision Tree

Task arrives
    ↓
Can I do this myself in <5 min?
    ├─ Yes → Do it (don't deploy agent)
    └─ No → Continue
    ↓
Is the task clearly defined?
    ├─ No → Plan first (始计篇)
    └─ Yes → Continue
    ↓
What's the token budget?
    ├─ Low (<10k) → Single focused agent (谋攻篇)
    └─ High → Multi-agent OK (兵势篇)
    ↓
What's the risk if wrong?
    ├─ High → Defense first (军形篇), multiple validation
    └─ Low → Speed优先 (作战篇)
    ↓
Deploy with clear success criteria
    ↓
Monitor for drift (行军篇)
    ↓
Validate output (用间篇 - cross-check)

Usage Examples

Example 1: Should I use an agent for this?

User: "I need to research competitors for our new product launch"

Apply 始计篇:

• 道: Aligns with business goals ✓
• 天: Launch is in 3 weeks, timing is good ✓
• 地: Need market data, competitor websites, reviews ✓
• 将: Research agent + synthesis agent ✓
• 法: Research → Synthesize → Present findings ✓

Decision: Deploy, but start with 因间 (existing reports) before 死间 (new searches).

Example 2: Agent is stuck in loops

User: "The agent keeps asking me the same questions"

Apply 行军篇: This is a signal (信号). The agent is on 挂形 (entangling ground).

Action:

1. Intervene early
2. Provide missing context
3. Set iteration limit: "Answer in 2 iterations max"
4. If still stuck, switch strategy (九变篇)

Example 3: Multi-agent orchestration

User: "I need to build a complete market analysis report"

Apply 兵势篇 (create momentum):

1. Research agent (收集情报)
2. Analysis agent (分析数据)
3. Critique agent (找出漏洞)
4. Writing agent (生成报告)
5. Validation agent (交叉验证)

Each output feeds the next, creating 势 (momentum).

Remember

兵者，国之大事，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也 "War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied."

Agent deployment is the same. Treat it seriously. Plan thoroughly. Execute decisively. Review honestly.