Interview Me

Structured intent-clarification interview. Forces one question at a time, with each subsequent question shaped by the previous answer, until the model can describe the work in three sentences without ambiguity.

Overview

When a task is underspecified, the cost of one clarifying question is near zero compared to the cost of wrong-direction work. This skill formalizes the interview: it caps questions per turn at one, requires self-investigation between turns, and exits only when a Confidence Score reaches 9/10 or higher.

When to Use

• User says "interview me", "grill me", "stress-test", "are we sure?"
• The ask uses vague verbs: "improve", "clean up", "fix", "simplify", "modernize"
• Multiple plausible interpretations exist and the model is about to guess
• Before starting non-trivial work where the cost of wrong direction is high
• After a partial implementation, when the user shifts scope mid-task

Do NOT use when:

• The user has named specific files, functions, or behavior
• The task is small enough that exploratory implementation is cheaper than clarification
• A /plan is already approved (use the plan, not the interview)

Process

1. Confidence baseline. State current confidence as a number from 1 to 10 with one sentence each on what is known and what is unknown.
2. Self-investigate first. Before asking, spend up to one minute on read-only investigation: grep, glob, read named files. Resolve anything that can be resolved without the user.
3. Ask one question. First line is the question, worded so that "yes" accepts the recommended option. Second block names what was investigated, with paths. Third block lists 2 to 3 options with one decisive trade-off each; the recommended option comes first, its label ends with (Recommended), and one sentence gives the decisive reason. Use AskUserQuestion for the question, not free-text prose.
   • When the question tests a domain term or a relationship between concepts, ground it in a concrete edge-case scenario invented for the purpose, such as "an order is half shipped when the customer cancels: is that one cancellation or two?" A scenario forces the boundary between concepts into the open where a definition lets it blur.
   • When talk cannot settle the question, as with how a screen should look or how a state model behaves across awkward cases, stop asking and call the Skill tool with spike, passing the question. Its verdict becomes the answer, and the interview resumes from step 4.
4. Update confidence. After the answer, restate confidence. If still below 9/10, repeat from step 2.
5. Summarize. When confidence reaches 9/10 or higher, write a three-sentence task statement: what will be done, what will NOT be done, how done will be verified. Wait for explicit "yes" before any implementation.

When the project has a glossary

Before the first question, check for GLOSSARY.md at the project root, or GLOSSARY-INDEX.md pointing at per-context glossaries. See ../../rules/project-glossary.md.

When a glossary exists:

• Load every term and its Avoid clause before asking anything.
• Phrase every question using the glossary's canonical terms.
• When the user uses a word listed under Avoid, call it out: "the glossary lists <canonical> for that concept and <word-the-user-said> under Avoid. Are we talking about the same thing, or has the meaning shifted?".
• When the user introduces a new term that has no entry, propose adding it inline. Update GLOSSARY.md with the Edit tool before continuing, creating it with Write on the first real term. Glossary edits are the only writes this skill makes before the task statement is approved.
• When the user's intent contradicts what the code does, surface it: "the glossary and the code both treat X as Y. You described it as Z. Which is the truth now?".

When to offer an ADR

Offer to record an Architecture Decision Record only when all three are true:

1. The decision is hard to reverse. Switching it later would cost real time.
2. The decision will look surprising without context. A future reader will ask "why did they do it this way?".
3. The decision is the result of a real trade-off. There were genuine alternatives and the user picked one for specific reasons.

If any one is missing, skip the ADR. Do not bury easy-to-change calls in the ADR record. Do not record the obvious.

Common Rationalizations

• "The ask is clear enough": restate it in three sentences. If two are about what the user did NOT say, it is not clear.
• "I will figure it out as I go": wrong-direction work is the most expensive mistake. The interview costs minutes; a refactor costs hours.
• "Asking too many questions is annoying": one well-formed question is not annoying. Five rapid-fire questions are. This skill caps at one per turn.
• "The user said just do it": that triggers execute-mode per CLAUDE.md, NOT this skill. Honor the directive.

Red Flags

• About to invoke Write or Edit without a confidence score
• About to ask two questions in one turn
• Offering options with no recommendation, or a recommendation that is not listed first
• Asking a question whose answer is in the first file the user named
• Skipping the self-investigation step because "the user knows"
• Writing implementation code while confidence is below 8/10
• Restating the user's words back as a question instead of resolving them

Verification

• Final task statement is three sentences: what, what-not, how-verified
• User has answered "yes" to the statement, not "ok" or "sure"
• Every question asked was preceded by at least one read or grep
• No question was bundled with another
• Every question carried a recommended option, listed first and labeled (Recommended)
• Confidence score documented before and after each round