Phase 1: Scope

The output of this phase is a single file, docs/agent-spec.md, that someone who was not in the conversation can read and use to judge whether the agent is finished.

Scoping fails in one of two directions. Too loose ("an agent that helps with support") and nobody can tell when it is done, so it is never done. Too tight ("an agent that replies to refund emails under $50 in English on weekdays") and you have written a script, not an agent — if every branch is enumerated in advance, use a state machine and skip the model.

Aim for: bounded jobs, explicit non-goals, and success criteria that could be disagreed with.

Procedure

1. Get the real request

Do not start writing the spec from the one-line ask. Ask the user these, in this order, and stop as soon as you have enough to write a first draft, three good answers beat ten thin ones: