Zoom Out

Load /creative-writing-skills:qi-layer if it isn't already loaded.

Orient in an unfamiliar area by fanning out parallel explorers, each covering a different angle, then synthesizing their reports into one orientation map. A single explorer sees one slice; zoom-out covers structure and knowledge and history at once, so the picture isn't skewed by one lens.

Use when starting in an unfamiliar subsystem, picking up someone else's work, or when the user says "orient me" / "what's the lay of the land here."

Fan Out

Spawn in parallel the angles the area has material for, each scoped to one angle and one question.

• Structure (@explorer): how the area's parts connect and where behavior lives; in code, callers, dependencies, module boundaries, entry points.
• Documented knowledge (@explorer over the knowledge base): what's been written about this area, including architecture, guides, synthesized research.
• Decision history (@session-miner): why it's shaped this way. Prior choices, rejected alternatives, constraints discovered.
• Domain concepts (@explorer): the vocabulary in use (KB vocab pages, .context/CONTEXT.md, AGENTS.md).

Give each explorer one angle, scoped with concrete path or topic targets: the value is independent coverage.

Synthesize

Read the reports and produce one orientation map, not stitched-together dumps:

• What this is: the area's purpose and boundaries, in two or three sentences.
• Structure: the parts and interfaces that matter and how they connect (a mermaid diagram if the shape is spatial).
• Why it's like this: the decisions and constraints that explain the current shape.
• Vocabulary: the terms needed to speak about it precisely.
• Open threads: gaps, debt, or unresolved questions the explorers surfaced.

When reports contradict each other, resolve it rather than listing both, by what each source governs: the thing itself (the code, the data, the manuscript) shows its current state, and a settled decision shows intent. A doc that misdescribes current state is stale (note it); a gap between current state and settled intent is a divergence to report. Keep the map tight: the goal is a reader who can now navigate the area, not an exhaustive transcript.