RCT-7 Thinking
RCT's 7-step reasoning methodology — distinct from the IntentLoop, this is the cognitive protocol that RCT-7 Mental OS uses to reason, plan, and verify solutions before execution.
RCT-7 Thinking vs RCT-7 Mental OS
Cognitive Protocol — how the system 'thinks' about a problem. 7 steps that run inside Mental OS for planning, reasoning, and verification. Analogy: a human's problem-solving algorithm.
Orchestration Engine — the operating system managing Task Lifecycle via 7 states (IDLE→ADAPT). Mental OS 'runs' the Thinking Protocol within PARSE and ROUTE states. Analogy: the human brain itself.
In short: Mental OS is the 'brain'; RCT-7 Thinking is the 'thought process' the brain follows. Both work together — the Thinking Protocol is meaningless without an execution engine, and vice versa.
The 7 Steps of RCT-7 Thinking
Every complex task passes through these 7 steps before execution — a metacognitive process that prevents misalignment and hallucination.
Collect raw signals from the environment — user input, context data, system state, and historical pattern signals. No judgment yet, only structured collection of what is present.
Kernel: T1–T2Decompose the observed signals into structured components — intent classification, entity extraction, constraint identification, and priority scoring via the FDIA equation F=(D^I)×A.
Kernel: T3–T4Break the problem into minimal atomic sub-tasks. Identify dependencies between sub-tasks and determine which can be parallelized versus which must be sequential. Build the execution dependency graph.
Kernel: T4–T5Work backward from the desired outcome to identify what must be true for success. This backward chaining reveals hidden assumptions, validates feasibility, and surfaces constraint conflicts before execution.
Kernel: T5–T6Distill all analysis into the single root intent — the fundamental goal that, if achieved, satisfies all downstream requirements. This is the convergence point that drives the reconstruction phase.
Kernel: T6Build the optimal solution path from the core intent and verified sub-tasks. Sequence atomic operations, assign model roles via JITNA, and create the final execution plan with fallback routes for every critical node.
Kernel: T7–T8Validate the reconstructed plan against the original core intent. Run FDIA verification — does the proposed execution F=(D^I)×A satisfy A≥1 (Authorization)? Is the delta (Δ=I−D) closed? This gate prevents misaligned execution.
Kernel: T8–T93 RCT-7 Thinking Variants
Choose a variant based on problem complexity and type.
7-step full cycle for complex organizational change scenarios. All 7 thinking steps execute sequentially — most thorough variant for multi-stakeholder decisions.
4-step condensed cycle: Observe → Analyze → Reconstruct → Compare. For systemic analysis where deconstruction and reverse reasoning are pre-handled by the FDIA layer.
7-step interpretive cycle — emphasis on Reverse Reasoning and Compare with Intent stages. Optimized for ambiguous inputs where meaning must be constructed from incomplete signals.
Thinking Steps × Kernel 9 Tiers
Each thinking step operates at specific Kernel Tiers, providing clean separation between cognitive layers.
RCT-7 Thinking in Production
Step 7 (Compare with Intent) directly runs FDIA Verification: F=(D^I)×A must achieve A≥1 (Authorization) and Delta (Δ=I−D) must close before Execution is permitted. This is how Constitutional AI integrates into the Thinking Protocol.