This tool implements the Whetstone Method — a research framework for generating theoretically rigorous frameworks through structured adversarial debate. The sparring partner's job is not to support your idea. It is to break it. What survives is stronger.
Before you begin — API key required
This tool uses AI to power the sparring partner. You need a free API key from one of these two providers:
Your key is sent directly to the provider — never stored on any server. It disappears when you close the tab.
Your research is private
Extrafemi Labs never sees your research. This tool is a static HTML file that runs entirely in your browser. There is no Extrafemi Labs server, no database, and no logging. Your conversations never touch any infrastructure we control.
Anthropic and OpenRouter process your API requests — this is unavoidable given how the tool works. Neither provider uses API-tier data to train models by default. See their policies: Anthropic Privacy Policy ↗ · OpenRouter Privacy Policy ↗
1
Get a free API key from OpenRouter or Anthropic above, then paste it in the API bar at the top of the tool.
2
Optionally select your domain. The sparring partner loads field-specific literature and challenges. You can skip this or change it anytime.
3
State a provocation. A bold, overdrawn claim about a phenomenon existing theory fails to explain.
4
Debate through five stages. Logical coherence → Literature → Stress-test → Necessity → Confirmed position.
5
Continue to paper production. Implications → Draft → Three-reviewer peer review → Revision.
Example provocation
"Development destroys its own conditions for demographic continuation — the very prosperity that makes policy possible simultaneously makes policy insufficient."
Select your research domain
The sparring partner loads field-specific literature and challenges. This is optional — you can skip it or change it at any time.
What is the phenomenon existing theory fails to explain?
State your post-experiential bias with maximum force. Overstate if necessary.
Method Rule
A provocation is not a hypothesis. State your view at maximum force.
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▼Stage questions · Citations · Change log
Stage Questions0 / 0
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Citations enforced with links where available. Verify independently before academic use.
AI contribution
Yours—AI—
Framework summary — updated each stage
Change log
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The sparring partner is waiting. State your provocation to begin.
press Enter ↵
Connect API to begin
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Connect API to begin
Iterative Adversarial Inquiry — The Whetstone Method▼
Working Paper · April 2026
Iterative Adversarial Inquiry — The Whetstone Method
A framework for generating original theoretical contributions through structured adversarial debate. The sparring partner does not protect your ideas from challenge — it sharpens them against challenge.
Iterative Adversarial Inquiry — The Whetstone Method
A framework for generating original theoretical contributions through structured adversarial debate. The sparring partner does not protect your ideas from challenge — it sharpens them against challenge.
Before advancing, answer the question below. This response is required — it becomes part of your audit trail.
⚠ A substantive response is required to advance. The method's quality depends on this record.
Export Options
Export debate record
All exports include the full transcript, citation tags, change log, methodology statement, and a SHA-256 integrity hash.
Fabrication check
Citations vs. scholarly databases
Every "confident" citation tag is automatically cross-referenced against CrossRef and OpenAlex — two free scholarly indexes — the moment it appears in the chat. Matching is on title similarity against the exact paper cited, not just author name and year — a real author with the wrong paper attached is flagged separately from a paper that doesn't seem to exist at all. This panel is a full-session summary of those checks, not a trigger — runs entirely in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere but those two public APIs.
Integrity check
Verify a record
Every exported Markdown/Text/Google-Docs record ends with a line reading "SHA-256: ...". Paste the full file's contents below (hash line included) to confirm it hasn't been edited since export.
Permanent record
Deposit to Zenodo
Uploads this debate's Markdown record to your own Zenodo account and publishes it, giving it a permanent, citable DOI. Requires a free Zenodo account and a Personal Access Token with deposit:write and deposit:actions scope — create one at zenodo.org/account/settings/applications/tokens ↗. The token is used only for this one request, directly from your browser to Zenodo — never sent to us, never stored.