Grill

Interview until you reach a shared understanding. Map the work as a design tree: every decision branches into the decisions that hang off it.

Use this for non-trivial product/architecture calls. Do not grill a one-line fix.

Do not create extra docs, ADRs, or tickets as you go. Capture settled decisions in the reply; if a lasting convention belongs in the project's agent guide, say so and wait for the user to ask you to write it.

Rounds

Start by restating the task, the decisions already implied by the request, and any assumptions you would otherwise make. If there are no open questions, ask the user to confirm this reading.

Work the tree in rounds. The frontier is every decision whose prerequisites are already settled. Ask the whole frontier in one round: number each question and give your recommended answer. Then wait.