# Deep Interview

> Clarify intent, boundaries, and non-goals before planning. First step of the canonical coding workflow.

- Skill: `chainlesschain/deep-interview` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add chainlesschain/deep-interview`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/chainlesschain/deep-interview/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Web & Frontend
- Author: chainlesschain (https://skillmd.com/u/chainlesschain)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/chainlesschain/deep-interview

---


# Deep Interview Skill

First step of the ChainlessChain canonical coding workflow:

```
$deep-interview  →  $ralplan  →  $ralph / $team
```

Use this skill when the user's request is vague, the scope is unclear,
or the boundaries and non-goals have not been agreed upon.

It writes a structured `intent.md` to
`<project>/.chainlesschain/sessions/<session-id>/intent.md` which the
next step (`$ralplan`) will read.

## Usage

```
$deep-interview "add authentication to the API"
```

## Inputs (params)

- `goal` (string, required) — the raw user request
- `clarifications` (string[], optional) — follow-up answers already gathered
- `nonGoals` (string[], optional) — explicit out-of-scope items
- `sessionId` (string, optional) — reuse an existing workflow session

## Output

`intent.md` file path + the rendered markdown, plus LLM guidance asking
the agent to ask the user any remaining clarification questions before
advancing to `$ralplan`.