grilling

agentic-workflows-blueprint.workflow.mattpocock.grilling

Goal

Systematically interrogate assumptions, edge cases, trade-offs, and operational boundaries through intensive Socratic questioning before domain modeling or code implementation.

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Scope

• Applies to: Feature requirement clarification, ambiguous requests, architectural trade-offs, and high-impact changes.
• Does not cover: Direct code implementation or initial codebase mapping (use /wayfinder).

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Triggers

• "/grilling"
• "Grill user on feature details"
• "Challenge feature assumptions"
• "Socratic grilling session"

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Inputs

• wayfinderBrief or userPrompt: Orientation brief or initial feature request.
• existingRootDoc: Main project instruction document (AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md).

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Invariants (Guardrails)

1. Mandatory Socratic Interrogation Gate: Present 3–7 strategic questions covering Scope, Edge Cases, Data Integrity, Security, and Operational Constraints. Do NOT proceed without explicit user responses.
2. Option-Driven Questioning: Present questions with clear trade-offs (Pros, Cons, Default Option) so choices are actionable.
3. Strict UUIDv7 Ordering Invariant: Enforce time-sortable UUIDv7 for resource identifiers in data model decisions.
4. Binding Decision Log: Record all user answers and trade-off resolutions into a binding decision log to govern domain modeling and spec creation.

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Procedure

1) Analyze Wayfinder & Request Context

1. Review the orientation brief (wayfinder.md) and original request to extract ambiguous requirements, boundary decisions, and risk areas.
2. Identify implicit assumptions that must be explicitly confirmed.

2) Formulate Categorized Grilling Questions

Formulate 3 to 7 targeted questions across key dimensions:

• Category A: Scope & Boundary Limits — What is strictly in vs. out of scope for this iteration?
• Category B: Edge Cases & Failure Modes — How to handle network timeouts, concurrency conflicts, invalid payloads, or missing data?
• Category C: Data Contracts & Invariants — Permitted mutations, state transition guards, UUIDv7 identity rules, and audit logging.
• Category D: Performance & Security Constraints — Rate limiting, RBAC permissions, zero-downtime deployment requirements, and migration strategy.

Format each question with:

• Context & Problem Statement
• Option 1 (Pros / Cons)
• Option 2 (Pros / Cons)
• Recommended Default Option

3) Present Grilling Interview

1. Present the formatted questions clearly to the user.
2. Wait for explicit user answers. Do NOT proceed to domain modeling or spec writing until grilling responses are recorded.

4) Synthesize Binding Decision Log

1. Summarize user choices and confirmed trade-offs into a binding Decision Log.
2. Store decision log in conversation context and append to walkthrough.md.

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Outputs

• Binding decision-log.md stored in conversation context and walkthrough.md.

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Review gate

• At least 3 to 7 targeted grilling questions presented with trade-offs.
• Explicit user responses received and recorded.
• UUIDv7 identity standard confirmed for resource data models.
• Binding decision log generated to govern domain modeling and specification.

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References

• ../../../SKILL.md
• ../wayfinder/SKILL.md
• ../domain-modeling/SKILL.md
• ../../embed-aihero-radioactive/SKILL.md