aqal-check-in
Trigger: /aqal-check-in
Structured self-inquiry that guides users through Ken Wilber's AQAL framework, exploring experience across all four quadrants — interior individual, exterior individual, interior collective, and exterior collective — to surface a complete, balanced picture of a situation or moment.
Agents
- Integral Researcher - AQAL framework research and quadrant mapping
- Integral Guide - Practice design and quadrant inquiry facilitation
- Content Writer - Inquiry language, framing, and synthesis
- Ethics Guardian - Safety review and honest evidence claims
Inputs
| Input | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
situation | Yes | The situation, challenge, or moment to explore (free text) |
depth | No | brief (quick scan), standard (default), deep (full inquiry) |
focus | No | Emphasize a quadrant: interior, exterior, individual, collective |
Outputs
aqal-checkin.md- Four-quadrant inquiry with observations and synthesisintegration-notes.md- Cross-quadrant patterns and next-step suggestionsevidence-brief.md- Research context with honest evidence levels
Examples
Standard check-in on a work conflict:
/aqal-check-in "tension with my team around a project deadline"
Deep inquiry into a health situation:
/aqal-check-in "recovering from illness" --depth deep
Brief morning orientation:
/aqal-check-in "start of day" --depth brief
Focus on collective dimensions:
/aqal-check-in "feeling isolated in my community" --focus collective
The Four Quadrants
The AQAL model maps any situation across two axes — interior/exterior and individual/collective — yielding four irreducible perspectives:
| Quadrant | Shorthand | Inquiry Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Upper-Left (UL) | I | Subjective experience, feelings, thoughts, meaning |
| Upper-Right (UR) | It | Observable behavior, physiology, measurable actions |
| Lower-Left (LL) | We | Shared meaning, culture, relational dynamics |
| Lower-Right (LR) | Its | Systems, structures, institutions, environment |
Each quadrant is considered real and irreducible — no single perspective fully captures the whole. The check-in does not privilege any quadrant; it surfaces what each reveals.
Research Basis
Evidence level: Mixed — Research-supported components; Theoretical framework
Individual components of the AQAL check-in draw on well-supported research domains: mindfulness-based self-inquiry has robust support across clinical and non-clinical populations (Kabat-Zinn, 2003; Hölzel et al., 2011), and structured perspective-taking improves cognitive flexibility and empathy (Davis, 1983; Galinsky et al., 2005). The AQAL framework itself is a theoretical synthesis by Ken Wilber (2000) that has not been validated as an integrated assessment instrument in controlled trials. The four-quadrant structure is philosophically grounded but remains meta-theoretical rather than empirically derived.
Quality Gates
Before output is finalized:
- All four quadrants addressed without collapsing one into another
- Evidence levels clearly labeled per component
- AQAL properly attributed to Wilber; theoretical status noted
- No claims that AQAL itself is empirically validated as a system
- Language remains invitational, not prescriptive
- Synthesis highlights cross-quadrant patterns without forcing resolution
- Medical or clinical framing avoided; no diagnostic language
- Permission to skip or revisit any quadrant included
Every situation has four faces. The check-in helps you see all of them.