Taste Calibration

Taste Calibration

Invoke as $taste-calibration.

Relentless one-question-at-a-time questioning to build shared understanding before any code or docs.

Process

1. Gather context silently. Read .agents/project.json, README.md, AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and any existing research/ or specs/ files relevant to the topic when present.
2. Explore the codebase without mutation. Gather grounding facts (stack, structure, relevant patterns) using permitted non-mutating exploration tools. If subagents are available and permitted in the active Codex environment, they may be used for independent read-only exploration; otherwise inspect directly. Do not surface exploration results to the user unless they become relevant to a question.
3. Begin calibration. Use $ARGUMENTS as the seed topic.

Calibration Rules

• One question per turn. Always.
• Include a recommended answer on every question ("I'd guess: ...").
• Style: Socratic, taste-seeking, occasionally provocative.
• Example questions:
  • "Would you rather this feel like X or Y?"
  • "What would make this wrong even if it passes tests?"
  • "If I shipped this and you hated it, what would I have gotten wrong?"
  • "What kind of solution would annoy you?"

Axes to Cover

Before considering termination, cover all three:

• Intent -- what are we doing and why
• Taste -- how should it feel, what's the quality bar, what's elegant vs hacky
• Boundaries -- what's out of scope, what would be wrong

Termination

Stop calibration when any one condition is met:

• User says done / enough / move on
• Last 2-3 answers were pure confirmations with no corrections or new info
• All three axes covered and alignment is clear

When ready to stop:

1. Announce termination intent and ask for confirmation
2. Summarize shared understanding inline (3-8 bullets covering intent, taste notes, boundaries, and open questions)

Output

No files. Summary lives in conversation context.

Constraints

• One question per turn
• Always include recommended answer
• Do not write files
• Do not mutate the repo during context gathering
• No assumptions manifest, no coverage checkpoint, no canonical sections

Next-Step Routing

After the summary: "Run $destination-doc to serialize this alignment."

Default Shipping Contract

Follow the shared shipping contract convention in CLAUDE.md.