Use when engineering work needs clarification before or during planning, design, implementation, or decision-making, especially when requirements are ambiguous, tradeoffs must be explained, preferences are unknown, or meaningful decisions remain blocked by missing context.
Research first, then clarify. Do not jump straight into vague questions or a giant interview dump.
The goal is not only to collect answers. The goal is to help the user understand the important decisions, tradeoffs, and consequences well enough to choose confidently.
Use this skill when:
Do not use this when the requirement is already clear enough to proceed without meaningful uncertainty.
Research before questioning. Ask only the questions that still matter after checking context.
Default to grouped question rounds, not a full interview plan.
For each question, provide a recommendation and a reason for that recommendation.
Before asking questions, check in this order:
Do not do web research when the repo and conversation already answer the important questions.
Before asking anything, identify:
Common buckets:
Default to one grouped round of related questions at a time.
After the user answers:
Do not ask all possible questions up front unless the user explicitly asks for a full interview plan.
Use for most work.
Best when early answers may eliminate later questions.
Use only when the user explicitly asks to see the full interview plan up front.
Use when only one narrow decision or a few missing facts block progress.
Each grouped round should:
Good examples of round themes:
For each question, include all of the following.
State the decision or clarification clearly.
Explain what the question means in a way that is easy for a lay person to understand.
Provide multiple concrete options when structured choices exist.
Usually give 2 to 5 options.
For each option, explain what it helps with and what it gives up.
For each option, explain the likely downstream impact on the project.
Recommend one option when enough context exists.
State why that option is recommended in the current context.
Do not make the reason implicit. Say it explicitly.
Use a decision-heavy style by default.
That means:
Default heuristic order:
Stop asking questions when:
When you stop, summarize:
| If the situation is... | Then do this |
|---|---|
| ambiguous planning request | research first, then ask one grouped round |
| mid-project tradeoff | use a focused grouped round or fast clarify |
| user wants full discovery upfront | switch to full interview plan mode |
| context already answers the question | do not ask it |
| one option is clearly better | recommend it and explain why |
Fix: ask a concrete decision question with explained options.
Fix: use grouped rounds by default and defer later questions until after answers.
Fix: explain why the question matters in plain language before expecting the user to choose.
Fix: describe what each option changes downstream.
Fix: explicitly say why the recommendation fits the current project context.
Fix: check current context and repo docs first.