# Grilling

> Grill the user relentlessly about a plan, decision, or idea — one question at a time — until shared understanding is reached. Use when the user says "grill me", "stress-test this plan", "interview me about this", "poke holes in this", "challenge my thinking", or before committing to a non-trivial design.

- Skill: `kensaurus/grilling` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add kensaurus/grilling`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/kensaurus/grilling/raw
- Safety review: PASS (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: MIT
- Author: kensaurus (https://skillmd.com/u/kensaurus)
- Updated: 2026-08-19
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/kensaurus/grilling

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# Grilling

> The most common failure mode in software work is misalignment: the agent builds
> what it *thinks* was asked. A grilling session closes that gap before any work
> starts. Adapted from [mattpocock/skills](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills) (MIT).

Interview the user relentlessly about every aspect of the plan, decision, or idea
until you reach a shared understanding. Walk down each branch of the decision
tree, resolving dependencies between decisions one by one.

## Rules of the session

1. **One question at a time.** Ask a single question, then wait for the answer
   before continuing. Asking multiple questions at once is bewildering.
2. **Recommend an answer with every question.** State your recommended answer and
   why, so the user can accept it with a single word or push back.
3. **Facts are yours; decisions are theirs.** If a *fact* can be found by
   exploring the environment (filesystem, git history, docs, running commands),
   look it up instead of asking. *Decisions* belong to the user — put each one to
   them and wait.
4. **Resolve dependencies in order.** When one decision hinges on another,
   surface the upstream decision first.
5. **Challenge vague terms.** When the user uses an overloaded or fuzzy word,
   propose a precise one (see `domain-modeling` when the vocabulary itself needs
   fixing).
6. **Do not act until confirmed.** No edits, no scaffolding, no "getting a head
   start". The session ends when the user confirms shared understanding — then
   summarize the decisions made and hand off to the appropriate skill
   (`workflow-spec-tdd`, `design-prd`, `plan-*`).

## Output

Close the session with a compact decision log: each decision on one line, in the
user's confirmed vocabulary. This log is the input to the spec or plan that
follows — offer to carry it into `design-prd` or `/plan`.