Ask Clarifying Questions

Drive a structured interview to surface load-bearing assumptions before code is written. Use the agent's interactive question tool when it is available; otherwise use concise prose.

Before Asking

• Use this skill only when it has already triggered and the request still has load-bearing ambiguity.
• Skip mechanical requests: typo fixes, obvious renames, or one-line bug fixes the user has already diagnosed.
• As a subagent without a direct user-answer channel, do not interview. Return the open questions and best-guess assumptions so the orchestrator can escalate.
• In non-interactive or headless runs, skip the interview, state the key assumptions, and proceed.
• Re-enter this process mid-implementation if a load-bearing ambiguity appears after work has started.

Process

1. Anchor

Restate in one sentence what you understand the user wants. This gives the user a cheap redirect point.

When there is strong existing signal, add a 2-4 bullet implementation sketch for the user to correct. Keep it lightweight; do not turn the interview into a full proposal pipeline.