---
name: lamina-systems
description: "Reason about causal product systems and change over time. Use when mapping stocks, flows, delays, purposes, or interconnections; diagnosing reinforcing or balancing feedback; recognizing recurring traps; finding high-leverage interventions; or deciding how rules can evolve safely. Use lamina-product-behavior for one workflow's authoritative states, prerequisites, and consistency rules."
---

# Lamina Systems

## Reference-loading protocol

1. Match the request's primary system question to one row below.
2. Open that linked reference before answering. Add another only when a second
   question materially changes the answer; do not preload the directory.
3. Start the response with `Using lamina-systems: <topic path(s)>` so the
   selected system lens is auditable.

## Topic index

| System signal | Read | Adds |
|---|---|---|
| Need to map purpose, elements, relationships, stocks, flows, or delays | [System Structure](references/system-structure.md) | a coherent system boundary before screen design |
| Local fixes recur, backfire, shift burden, or create unfair resource use | [System Traps](references/system-traps.md) | named structural failure patterns and responses |
| Need to choose between copy/UI tweaks, information changes, rules, or goals | [Leverage Points](references/leverage-points.md) | intervention ranking by structural leverage |
| Outputs amplify or balance future inputs, especially with visible delay | [Feedback Loops](references/feedback-loops.md) | reinforcing/balancing loops and oscillation risks |
| Need safe change under uncertainty or protection against rule regression | [Evolutionary Rules](references/evolutionary-rules.md) | reversible choices, deferred commitment, and invariant rechecks |

## Working rule

Use the smallest sufficient reference set. Diagnose recurring behavior with
system traps + feedback loops, then use leverage points to choose an
intervention. Add evolutionary rules only when the question includes rollout,
reversibility, or future change.