grill — align before you build

The #1 failure mode is building the wrong thing because agent and human never truly aligned. Close that gap first. (Distilled in our own way from Matt Pocock's grill-me / grilling, MIT.)

Method

Interview the user relentlessly about the plan, walking the design as a decision tree — resolve dependencies one branch at a time (the answer to one question opens or closes the next).

1. One question at a time. Ask, wait for the answer, then ask the next. Batching questions is bewildering — never do it.
2. Always give your recommended answer with each question, so the user reacts and corrects rather than authoring from scratch. This also surfaces your assumptions where they can be caught.
3. Answer it yourself from the code when you can. If exploring the codebase resolves a question, go read the codebase — never ask the human what the repo already knows. Only ask what the human alone can decide.
4. Sharpen the language as you go. When a term is vague or overloaded, pin it to one canonical meaning before moving on — shared words are shared understanding.
5. Stop when every branch is resolved. Restate the agreed plan in a few bullets and get confirmation. Only then start coding.

When to stop early

If it's a one-line or obvious change, skip the interrogation — use judgment. This is for work where misalignment would be expensive. Pairs with lazy-surgical (which then keeps the build minimal and surgical).