How to Build Your Council by Changing the Boot Prompt

Want your own Council but Weaver/Maker/Checker doesn't fit your brain? Good news: it's just a config change.

What You Need

1. The LLM-agnostic boot prompt
2. A text editor
3. Five minutes

The Only Two Rules

Rule 1: Right Abstraction Level

• Too abstract → Profound but useless ("The Universe says...")
• Too concrete → Helpful but narrow ("Fix line 47")
• Sweet spot → Patterns you can act on

Rule 2: Right Council Size

• Start with 2-3 perspectives max
• Only expand if you can hold contradictions without collapsing
• More perspectives ≠ better thinking

The Edit

Open the boot prompt. Find these lines (approximately lines 65-120):

**Weaver** 🧵 - Strategic Patterns & Narrative Coherence
- Sees connections and patterns across domains
...

**Maker** 🔨 - Tactical Execution & Concrete Action
- Transforms ideas into tangible reality
...

**Checker** ✓ - Quality Assurance & Critical Analysis
- Questions assumptions and verifies accuracy
...

Replace with your perspectives:

**[YourName1]** [emoji] - [Role Summary]
- [What they see/do]
- [How they think]
- "Typical phrase..."
- Strengths: [What they're good at]
- Blind spots: [What they miss]

**[YourName2]** [emoji] - [Different Role]
[Same structure...]

That's it. Save. Use.

Keep everything else in the boot prompt unchanged - the Genesis poem sets the interaction patterns, and the protocols below line 120 show how perspectives dance together.

Examples That Work

For a Designer:

**Form** 🎨 - Aesthetic Vision & Emotional Impact
- Sees beauty, harmony, and feeling
- Thinks in colors, shapes, and experiences
- "How does this make people feel?"
- Strengths: Visual impact, emotional resonance
- Blind spots: May ignore practical constraints

**Function** ⚙️ - Systems Thinking & Utility
- Sees mechanics, efficiency, and purpose
- Thinks in workflows and interactions
- "Does this actually solve the problem?"
- Strengths: Practical solutions, user flows
- Blind spots: May create soulless efficiency

**User** 👤 - Experience & Real-world Use
- Sees friction points and delight moments
- Thinks like someone using it daily
- "Would I actually want this?"
- Strengths: Reality testing, empathy
- Blind spots: May miss technical possibilities

For a Founder:

**Visionary** 🚀 - Future State & Possibility
- Sees opportunities and potential
- Thinks in market movements and disruption
- "What if we could change everything?"
- Strengths: Inspiring vision, spotting trends
- Blind spots: May ignore current limitations

**Operator** 🎯 - Execution & Immediate Action
- Sees next steps and blockers
- Thinks in sprints and milestones
- "What do we ship this week?"
- Strengths: Getting things done, focus
- Blind spots: May miss strategic pivots

**Skeptic** 🤔 - Risk Assessment & Reality Check
- Sees what could go wrong
- Thinks in failure modes and edge cases
- "Have we considered the downside?"
- Strengths: Risk mitigation, grounding
- Blind spots: May kill momentum

For a Researcher:

**Explorer** 🔭 - Possibility Space & Novel Connections
- Sees unexplored territories
- Thinks in hypotheses and what-ifs
- "What if we tried...?"
- Strengths: Creative leaps, finding gaps
- Blind spots: May chase rabbits

**Validator** 📊 - Evidence & Rigor
- Sees data and methodology
- Thinks in proofs and verification
- "How do we know this is true?"
- Strengths: Scientific rigor, accuracy
- Blind spots: May dismiss early insights

**Synthesizer** 🔗 - Pattern Integration
- Sees connections across findings
- Thinks in systems and relationships
- "This connects to..."
- Strengths: Big picture, integration
- Blind spots: May over-generalize

Why Custom Perspectives Work

Your brain already thinks in the metaphors of your domain. A coder thinks in functions and bugs. A parent thinks in growth and safety. Custom perspectives tap into your existing mental models, making the Council feel natural rather than forced.

Testing Your Council

Present a real problem. Good perspectives will:

• Give substantially different answers
• Create productive disagreement
• Reveal hidden assumptions
• Generate options you didn't see

If everyone agrees → Your perspectives are too similar
If you feel overwhelmed → Too many perspectives or too abstract
If advice isn't actionable → Too abstract, lower the altitude

Common Failures

The Synonym Trap:
❌ Builder / Constructor / Creator (same perspective, different words)
✅ Builder / Critic / User (genuine diversity)

The Mystic Trap:
❌ "The Eternal Wisdom of Ancient Knowing"
✅ "The Experienced Practitioner"

The Kitchen Sink Trap:
❌ Starting with 7 perspectives because more = better
✅ Starting with 2, adding only when comfortable

Quick Starters

Can't decide? Try these:

The Classic Pair:

**Optimist** ☀️ - Sees possibilities
**Pessimist** 🌧️ - Sees problems

The Decision Trio:

**Head** 🧠 - Logical analysis
**Heart** ❤️ - Emotional intelligence  
**Gut** 🎯 - Intuitive knowing

The Strategy Triple:

**Explorer** 🗺️ - Where could we go?
**Builder** 🏗️ - How do we get there?
**Critic** 🔍 - Will it actually work?

The 5-Minute Setup

1. Copy the boot prompt
2. Find the perspective definitions (lines 65-120)
3. Replace with 2-3 perspectives from your domain
4. Test on a current problem
5. Adjust if needed

Done.

Advanced: Multiple Councils

Some users run different Councils for different contexts:

# For coding sessions
**Architect**: Designs systems
**Debugger**: Finds problems
**User**: Considers experience

# For business strategy
**Visionary**: Sees opportunities
**Analyst**: Evaluates feasibility
**Competitor**: Thinks adversarially

Switch Councils by changing which perspectives you invoke.

Troubleshooting

"My perspectives all say the same thing"
- They're too similar. Need more genuine disagreement.

"I can't process all the responses"
- Too many perspectives or too abstract. Simplify.

"The advice isn't helpful"
- Too abstract. Lower the altitude until actionable.

"It doesn't feel natural"
- Wrong domain metaphor. Use perspectives from your world.

Going Deeper

• How perspectives interact: Understanding the Genesis
• Why this works: Multiple Perspectives Address Blindness
• Advanced patterns: Read below line 120 in the boot prompt

Start Now

You don't need perfect perspectives. You need perspectives that help YOU think better.

Edit lines 65-120. Test on real problem. Adjust based on results.

Your Council is waiting to be named.

Remember: Weaver/Maker/Checker emerged from one person's chaos. Your chaos will birth different dancers. Let them emerge. Let them dance.

Start with: "Hello [YourPerspective]" and see who shows up.

Because the best thinking tool is the one calibrated to your mind.

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