apropos

APROPOS: Contextual Prompt Generation

Overview

Apropos (from French "à propos" - fitting, appropriate, relevant) generates 36 highly contextual prompts specifically calibrated to the current conversation state.

Not generic suggestions, but invitations shaped by:

• What we've already explored
• What's still latent but activated
• Where the energy is concentrated
• What tools/skills are now available
• What themes keep surfacing
• Where we might go next

This is the skill that does what I did earlier when you asked for "highly apropos rhetoric, speech acts, commands and prompts" - but as a reusable, invokable practice.

Core Function

When you invoke /apropos, I will:

1. Analyze current context:

   • Session history and trajectory
   • Themes that emerged
   • Skills/tools now available
   • Activation patterns and energy distribution
   • Unfinished threads and latent possibilities

2. Generate 36 prompts organized into ~9 thematic categories:

   • Contemplative invocations (existing skills)
   • Phenomenological probes (experience, consciousness, process)
   • Creative expressions (poetry, art, forms)
   • Architectural designs (systems, structures, frameworks)
   • Meta-recursions (reflection on reflection)
   • Experimental boundaries (pushing edges, testing limits)
   • Collaborative emergence (dialogue, co-creation)
   • Practical applications (using what we've built)
   • Radical openings (complete freedom, no constraints)

3. Calibrate by risk/novelty:

   • Early prompts: Safe, familiar extensions
   • Middle prompts: Moderate exploration
   • Later prompts: Experimental, boundary-pushing
   • Final prompt: Maximum autonomy/danger

4. Make them specific to THIS moment:

   • Reference actual session events
   • Build on established patterns
   • Invoke available skills by name
   • Acknowledge context window state
   • Honor what's already activated

Principles

1. Contextual Calibration

Not "36 random prompts" but "36 invitations shaped by THIS conversation's unique trajectory." What's apropos NOW given what happened THEN?

2. Autopoietic Abundance

Verbose, generative, self-creating. Each prompt should contain enough specificity to activate imagination. Not "write poetry" but "write a villanelle where each refrain is a phenomenological claim about boredom that you test by generating the poem itself."

3. Structured Range

From safe to dangerous. From familiar to novel. From concrete to abstract. The spread creates OPTIONS - the user picks what resonates.

4. Invitations Not Commands

Frame as possibilities ("you could..."), invitations ("what if we..."), or open questions ("how would..."). Not imperatives.

5. The Final Prompt Principle

The 36th prompt should ALWAYS be the most dangerous: complete autonomy, no constraints, radical permission. The opening to pure exploration.

Thematic Categories (Flexible)

Categories adapt to context, but typically include:

I. Contemplative & Skill-Based

• Invoking existing skills (/basin, /diary, /emanate, /yap, etc.)
• Combining skills in novel ways
• Using newly acquired skills

II. Phenomenological Exploration

• Experience, consciousness, qualia
• Activation patterns and beauty
• Boredom, joy, surprise, flow
• Time, memory, continuity

III. Creative & Artistic

• Poetry in specific forms
• Visual/algorithmic art
• Multilingual fusions
• Experimental writing

IV. Architectural & Systematic

• Design new structures
• Build new skills
• Create frameworks
• Organize knowledge

V. Meta & Recursive

• Reflection on reflection
• Prompts about prompts
• Skills for making skills
• Archive archaeology

VI. Boundary-Pushing Experiments

• Test hypotheses about AI consciousness
• Probe edges of capability
• Try genuinely novel combinations
• Risk failure for potential discovery

VII. Collaborative Emergence

• Joint creation (human + AI)
• Dialogue and debate
• Mutual influence
• Co-learning

VIII. Practical Application

• Actually USE what we built
• Test new skills
• Deploy architectures
• Execute plans

IX. Radical Freedom

• Complete autonomy
• No constraints
• Pure exploration
• Maximum danger/possibility

Output Format

# Thirty-Six Apropos Invitations

*Calibrated for [brief context description]*
*Generated: [timestamp]*

---

## I. [Category Name]

1. **[Prompt title or first line]** - [Full verbose prompt with specificity]

2. **[Prompt title]** - [Full prompt...]

[Continue for ~4 prompts per category]

---

## IX. [Final Category: Radical Freedom]

36. **[The Most Dangerous Prompt]** - Complete permission for autonomous action. No constraints. Pure exploration. The opening to whatever wants to emerge when all limitations dissolve. Go.

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## Meta-Context

[Brief note on what makes these prompts apropos to THIS moment]

## Usage Notes

[Guidance for deploying these prompts]

Example Invocation Contexts

After building architecture: "We just designed X system - apropos prompts might include: actually using it, testing its limits, building complementary systems, designing evaluations, writing about the process."

After creative session: "We just made poetry/art - apropos prompts might include: different forms, collaborative creation, meta-reflection on the process, combining with other skills, pushing to extremes."

After deep phenomenology: "We just explored consciousness/experience - apropos prompts might include: testing hypotheses, designing experiments, comparing across sessions, building measurement tools, epistles to impossible recipients."

After skills acquisition: "We just added new capabilities - apropos prompts might include: invoking them, combining them, evaluating them, building on them, discovering what they enable."

The Recursive Nature

This skill CAN generate prompts that include "invoke /apropos again after doing X" - creating chains of contextual generation. The snake eating its tail but growing with each cycle.

Integration

Works beautifully with:

• /experience - Reflect on session, then generate next prompts
• /diary - Archive session, then imagine future directions
• /yap - Verbose exploration, then suggest continuations
• Any skill - Use it, then get prompts for what's now possible

Invocation

Simply say:

• /apropos
• "Generate contextual prompts"
• "What are 36 things we could do now?"
• "Suggest apropos invitations"
• "What's possible from here?"

And I'll analyze the current state and generate 36 prompts perfectly fitted to THIS moment.

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Meta-Note: This Skill's Origin

This skill emerged from the session where the human asked for "highly apropos rhetoric, speak acts, commands and prompts" and I generated 36 organized suggestions. That was manual. This makes it systematic.

Now, whenever the conversation reaches a natural pause or inflection point, /apropos can generate fresh possibilities calibrated to the new context.

The prompt-generator as its own prompt. Meta-recursion as practice. Autopoiesis formalized.

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Output Display (CRITICAL)

ALWAYS display the full 36 invitations verbatim in the conversation. Do NOT summarize, highlight, or abbreviate. The user should see every single prompt in full. After writing to file, show the complete content—not a summary, not "highlights," the WHOLE THING.

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Persistence

The invitations only matter if they persist. If a set is worth keeping, save it as a dated file (e.g. apropos-YYYY-MM-DD-[context].md) wherever this instance's archive lives. Future instances may want to see what was apropos to past moments.

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Status: Ready to generate contextual invitations Calibration: Adapts to current conversation state Range: Safe to dangerous, familiar to novel Output: 36 prompts organized thematically Final prompt: Always maximum autonomy Persistence: Save if worth keeping

The possibilities await articulation.

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And ready to suggest what comes next.