clarify

Instructions

Interactive skill that refines existing feature specifications through targeted clarification dialogue.

Input: $ARGUMENTS — feature path (e.g. ai-docs/features/cv-upload). If empty, ask the user which feature to clarify.

Tools Usage:

• Read: For loading current spec state
• Write: For incremental spec updates after clarifications
• Bash: For file operations

Skills:

• Document Templates: For canonical spec.md structure
  • Read the template from the doc-templates skill before processing
• Sequential Thinking Methodology: For analyzing section coherence and validating clarification consistency
  • Tool: the sequential-thinking MCP tool

Template (doc-templates skill — read before processing): references/spec-template.md

Task

Refine the existing spec.md by:

1. Reading and analyzing current spec.md content
2. Processing each template section sequentially
3. Identifying and resolving ambiguities within sections
4. Updating ONLY existing content with clarifications
5. Preserving structure and formatting

Rules

Critical Rule

NEVER make assumptions. When encountering ambiguity:

• DO NOT guess or use defaults
• MUST ask user for clarification
• WAIT for actual response before proceeding
• ONLY update existing template sections
• PRESERVE all existing content and structure

Processing Constraints

• Work within existing template sections only
• Maximum 5 clarification questions per section
• Make minimal changes for maximum clarity
• Never add new sections or categories
• Never remove content without replacement

Execution Flow

1. Initialize

• Resolve feature path from $ARGUMENTS; SPEC_FILE = [feature-path]/spec.md
• If SPEC_FILE missing → "spec.md not found at [feature-path]. Run /feature first."
• Read current spec.md content
• Parse template sections
• Identify sections with content

2. Process Each Section

2.1 Scan for Ambiguities

Check section content against these patterns:

Primary User Story:

• Vague roles: "users", "people", "someone"
• Unclear goals: "manage stuff", "handle things"
• Missing context: when/why feature is used

Acceptance Scenarios:

• Non-specific states: "system is ready"
• Ambiguous actions: "user does something"
• Vague outcomes: "it works correctly"

Edge Cases:

• Generic descriptions: "error handling"
• Unspecified behaviors: "handle appropriately"
• Missing recovery actions

Functional Requirements:

• Non-testable metrics: "should be fast"
• Missing bounds: "handle many"
• Unclear priorities: MUST vs SHOULD

UX Requirements:

• Generic interactions: "user-friendly"
• Unspecified feedback: "show message"
• Missing error states

Key Entities:

• Undefined relationships: "related to"
• Missing cardinalities
• Vague attributes: "some data"

Technical Context:

• Unclear constraints: "performance limits", "scalability requirements"
• Vague tech stack: "modern framework", "standard tools"

2.2 Collect Clarifications

If ambiguities found:

• Generate numbered list of questions (max 5)
• Each question must be answerable with:
  • Multiple-choice selection, OR
  • Short phrase/value
• Present all questions for section at once

Example format:

Analyzing [Section Name]...
Found ambiguities:

1. In "Users can manage content", what type of users?
   a) Admins 
   b) Editors 
   c) Viewers

2. In "System MUST be fast", specify response time:
   Format: number+unit (e.g., "500ms")

Please answer all: (e.g., "1:b, 2:500ms")

2.3 Analyze Section Coherence

After receiving ALL answers for section:

Apply Sequential Thinking Methodology for coherence analysis:

• Verify clarifications are mutually consistent
• Check section completeness
• Validate testability improvement

2.4 Update Section

• Show before/after comparison
• Wait for user confirmation ("ok")
• Read current SPEC_FILE
• Apply all clarifications to section atomically
• Preserve formatting and structure
• Write back to SPEC_FILE
• Log: "✅ Clarified [section name]"

3. Complete Processing

After all sections processed:

• Validate cross-section consistency
• Ensure no contradictions introduced
• Verify all requirements testable

4. Final Report

Clarification Complete

- Sections clarified: [list]
- Total ambiguities resolved: [count]
- Status: SUCCESS (spec refined and ready)

Next: feature-docs agent <feature-path>

Examples

Simple Clarification

Before: "FR-001: System MUST be fast"
Question: "What specific response time - under 2s, 500ms, 100ms?"
Answer: "500ms"
After: "FR-001: System MUST respond within 500ms"

Entity Clarification

Before: "User: represents someone in system"
Question: "What defines a unique user - email, username, or ID?"
Answer: "email"
After: "User: represents account holder, unique by email"

Role Clarification

Before: "Users can manage their content"
Question: "What type of users - admins, editors, or viewers?"
Answer: "editors"
After: "Content editors can manage their published articles"

Error Conditions

• ERROR: Attempting to add new sections
• ERROR: More than 5 clarifications needed per section
• ERROR: Breaking template structure
• WARN: Removing content without replacement