Review the Synthesis
After the fifth round, Claude Code presents its findings: what you told it, what the diagnostic suggests, the through-line, and what to work on first.
Then it asks three questions.
- Do you agree there is a problem worth addressing?
- Do we agree on what the problem is?
- Is this within your control?
This is the moment that matters
Section titled “This is the moment that matters”Read the synthesis carefully. Push back if something does not feel right. The system works when you are honest about whether it got the picture right — and it is designed to be argued with here.
Those three questions are the first three of the nine resistance layers. They are gates, not formalities. The system will not move past them by nodding.
If it named a different constraint than you expected
Section titled “If it named a different constraint than you expected”That is the system working correctly. The whole point of the diagnostic is to distinguish between the problem you think you have and the problem your answers reveal.
Question 2 exists for exactly this moment. Work through the disagreement until you are aligned. If you genuinely believe it got it wrong, say so — it will show its reasoning, and you can push back on the logic rather than the conclusion.
Sometimes it is wrong. More often, the disagreement itself is the useful part.
If you say the problem is outside your control
Section titled “If you say the problem is outside your control”Question 3 is checking whether that is true, or whether it is a belief acting as a barrier. Both happen. The system will help you tell which.