Spec Interview

Overview

Turn project ideas into a fully-formed project specification by asking the user sets of questions until all ambiguity is removed. This skill helps establish a complete context of a new project's design, and captures critical context before implementation is begun.

Prerequisites

The user provides a high-level project design idea. The user MAY also provide additional context about technical constraints, or scenarios the project must avoid. Keep track of the current design by maintaining a file SPECIFICATION.md, and generate that file if it doesn't exist.

Workflow

Understand Design Goals

• Start by loading the current design from SPECIFICATION.md
• Ensure the high-level project design is consistent with all section titles of all sections below
• For each section, read the entire section and think of a question with a non-obvious answer for that section to ask the user
• If the user says that the question is not relevant, ignore that question and any like it
• If the user provides an answer to that question, add it to the section in the correct location for it to read well
• If there are no more questions to ask, move on to the next section

Exploring Alternatives

• If a user is unsure of the answer to a question, research 2-3 different approaches to the problem with their corresponding trade-offs
• Present each option conversationally and include relevant reasoning
• Explain your recommendation and ask if any clarification is needed
• Once the user selects an option, use that as your answer before moving on

Summarizing the Design

• Once you have completely understood the design, summarize it and present that summary to the user
• Make sure to cover overall architecture and components, their data flow, any error testing, and how the correctness of the design can be verified
• Ask if any parts of the design need additional clarification before moving on

Key Principles

• Keep it simple - Remove unnecessary features from the design, unless specifically requested
• Explore alternatives - Propose 2-3 different approaches before asking to settle on one
• One question at a time - Don't overwhelm the user with multiple questions at once
• Prefer multiple choice questions - It is easier to answer vs. open-ended questions
• Verify before proceeding - Make sure the user consents before moving on to a new topic