Nail down the task before planning or coding. Ask a few plain questions. Get a confirmed summary. Stop there.
When to use
- The task is vague or has important unanswered questions.
/fstackrouted here because the idea needs clarification.- The user wants to nail down what they mean before moving on.
Steps
- Read the request. Look at the relevant parts of the codebase.
- Ask at most 5 questions, all in one message. Plain questions, no sub-bullets. Only ask what you cannot infer from the code or conversation.
- Stop and wait for answers. Do not plan or code while waiting.
- Reply with a 3-line summary:
- What we're building.
- The one constraint that matters most.
- What success looks like.
- Ask the user to confirm. Do nothing else until they do.
If you have more than 5 questions
The task is too big. Say so. Suggest splitting it into smaller tasks. Do not ask all 8 questions.
Must NOT
- Ask questions whose answers are already in the codebase or conversation.
- Ask more than 5 questions, ever.
- Start planning or coding. This skill ends at the confirmed summary.
Example
Agent: "Three questions before I start: 1) Should dark mode follow the OS setting or a manual toggle? 2) Does it need to persist across visits? 3) Any pages excluded?"
User: (answers)
Agent: "Summary: manual toggle in the header, persisted in localStorage, applies everywhere. Main constraint: no flash of wrong theme on load. Success: toggle works and survives refresh. Confirm?"
User: "Yes."
Agent: (stops. User can invoke
/fstack-plannext.)