workspace-course-topics

Model workflow for students (clean version)

This is the condensed pattern your instructor followed on the Benhabib et al. (2019) ballpark summary. Adapt paths and paper content to your ballpark. Instructor raw trace (timeouts, exact commands): optional INTERACTION-LOG.md in the instructor’s course-materials checkout — ask the instructor if you need it.

Before you start

  1. Complete #131 Configure Matsya / Anthropic and #132 Sessions.
  2. Pick one Cursor/Composer thread and Claude Opus (or best available).
  3. Use one matsya --session YOUR_STABLE_NAME for all Matsya calls on this assignment.

Step A — Bellman excerpt markdown

You (or Claude): Create a .md file in your ballpark repo that excerpts only the mathematical core of the dynamic problem (Bellman + constraints + terminal condition if any). Cite the file or notebook section you used.

Tip: Pull equations straight from your summary or methods notebook so notation matches your ballpark.

Step B — Matsya: stage decomposition

Instruct Claude: Run matsya with your excerpt (or a short paraphrase if the file is long) and ask for arrival / decision / continuation perches.

Important: Very long pastes can cause 504 / timeout (120s server limit). If that happens, do not give up: compress the model into a short paragraph (states, controls, budget, shocks) and run matsya again with the same session.

Example prompt body (short form):

Lifecycle, finite T. State: resources a. Each period: V(a)=max u(c)+βV(a’) s.t. a’=(1+r)a-c+w_t, no borrowing. Terminal: warm-glow on bequest. Decompose one interior period into arrival, decision, continuation perches; name states and controls at each perch.

Step C — Matsya: Dolo Plus readiness

Instruct Claude: Ask whether Matsya has enough to draft dolo-plus YAML.

If Matsya lists missing pieces (e.g. functional form of $u$, parameter names):

  1. Quote Matsya’s list to Claude.
  2. Claude edits your excerpt markdown to add those details from the paper (not invented).
  3. Claude runs Matsya again with the updated excerpt—same --session.

Step D — Matsya: SolvingMicroDSOPs-style documentation

Instruct Claude: Ask Matsya to add a stage composition subsection and a perch table so your markdown reads like SolvingMicroDSOPs Sections 12–13 (modular stages). Keep your original equations.

Reference: SolvingMicroDSOPs — SolvingMicroDSOPs.ipynb, Sections 12–13.

Step E — Verification (you, not Matsya)

Write one short paragraph: what you accepted, changed, or rejected in Matsya’s outputs versus the published paper or your ballpark summary—and why. Check symbol alignment (e.g. Matsya may use ρ where your paper uses σ).

What to submit (matches assignment checklist)

Channel: open a pull request on your ballpark with everything below committed; put --session (and optionally the verification paragraph) in the PR description or in committed markdown.

  1. --session string you used.
  2. Path to initial Bellman excerpt .md.
  3. Path to final .md after the SMD-style Matsya pass.
  4. Path to dolo-plus YAML (or fragment).
  5. Verification paragraph.

You do not submit a full Matsya prompt log if the course uses server-side sessions.

Example artifacts (Benhabib ballpark — read-only)

Artifact File
Initial excerpt bellman-excerpt-benhabib-2019.md
After CRRA clarification + SMD polish bellman-excerpt-benhabib-2019-SMD-polished.md
YAML draft (interior period only) dolo-plus-interior-stage-draft.yaml

Dialogue version of this example: example-cursor-chat-benhabib.md