---
slug: "GraphOfThought"
name: "GraphOfThought"
type: "Reasoning"
layer: "Mind"
ref: "GraphOfThought#aff0"
sema_id: "sema:GraphOfThought#mh:SHA-256:aff044b7909bc26511c42ece0cf090bd4d1f82431a5728e94fedcd2ad9733160"
tags: ["Mind","Reasoning"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json
url: https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/GraphOfThought/
related: ["DAG","Think"]
---

# GraphOfThought

Graph-structured reasoning (Macro for Think(DAG))

Layer: Mind · Category: Reasoning

## Mechanism

The canonical implementation of graph-structured reasoning. Instantiates the [Think](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Think.md) primitive with a [DAG](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/DAG.md) topology so that inference steps can have multiple predecessors and multiple successors — nodes that converge from different reasoning branches can unify mid-computation without forcing a tree shape. Complements ChainOfThought (linear), TreeOfThoughts (branching without merge), and SkeletonOfThought (outline-parallel expansion). Used when distinct lines of reasoning should feed into shared intermediate conclusions — common in proof assistants, complex debugging, and multi-hypothesis analysis where evidence from branch A refines node X shared with branch B.

## Invariants

- Acyclicity inherited from [DAG](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/DAG.md): no reasoning step is its own ancestor.
- Fan-in permitted: a node may have multiple parent inferences, modeling evidence convergence.
- Each node applies [Think](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Think.md) once; repeated re-evaluation is a caller concern, not a topology property.

## Failure modes

—

## Signature

- `Think(DAG)`

## Builds on

- [DAG](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/DAG.md) (Infrastructure; Composes with)
- [Think](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/Think.md) (Mind; Composes with)

## Used by

—

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:GraphOfThought#mh:SHA-256:aff044b7909bc26511c42ece0cf090bd4d1f82431a5728e94fedcd2ad9733160`
- Ref: `GraphOfThought#aff0`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:GraphOfThought#mh:SHA-256:ccee7b6c5ea42d243d5921a7dfbf074ef9aba5212cff0714e4ce9019077c907d`
  - `sema:GraphOfThought#mh:SHA-256:d1d584dba2c12ecbe922171f0519cc97d54fd4b04ffe8d2810122480e64c38b9`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/GraphOfThought/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/#GraphOfThought)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/GraphOfThought.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.pages.dev/bootstrap/index.json)