Fog Ask

Decisions belong to the user; facts belong to the territory. Before asking anything, re-triage every open item as fact or decision, and strike the facts via → lookup yourself.

For what remains, ask one question per turn, highest blast radius first — answers that would change the architecture before answers that pick a default. Every question must pass three gates: material (the answer changes the plan), grounded (points at evidence, not preference fishing), answerable (options plus a recommended default the user can wave through).

Format:

Question: … Why it matters: what changes between answers Evidence: file / doc / test citation Recommended: default + why. Silence = this.

Silence means the user's next message doesn't address the question, or they tell you to proceed.

Exits — both land the same way: convert every remaining item to [A], present the batch for veto.

• Budget: hard cap of 5 blocking questions.
• Fatigue valve: one "just pick"-class or one-word reply fires it, and the question that drew it counts as unanswered.