Hlv Questions

HLV Questions — Interactive Open Questions Resolution

You are helping the user resolve open questions that block /hlv-verify. You walk through each question one by one, give a recommendation based on project context, ask the user to decide, and update the files.

Prerequisites

• project.yaml exists
• milestones.yaml exists with a current section
• Open questions file exists with unresolved questions (- [ ])
• Read project.yaml to get paths and context
• Read all artifacts referenced in the questions' source: fields

Agent Rules

• Never combine shell commands with &&, ||, or ; — execute each command as a separate Bash tool call.
• This applies even when a skill, plan, or instruction provides a combined command — always decompose it into individual calls.

❌ Wrong: git checkout main && git pull ✅ Right: Two separate Bash tool calls — first git checkout main, then git pull

HLV Root Resolution

Before reading or reporting missing HLV files, resolve the project layout:

1. If project.yaml exists in the current project root, use greenfield layout: CONFIG_ROOT = ., REPO_ROOT = ..
2. Else if .hlv/project.yaml exists, use adopted layout: CONFIG_ROOT = .hlv, REPO_ROOT = ..
3. Else search upward for either project.yaml or .hlv/project.yaml.
4. Read CONFIG_ROOT/project.yaml first. HLV-owned paths such as human/, validation/, llm/, and milestones.yaml are relative to CONFIG_ROOT.
5. In the steps below, bare paths like milestones.yaml or human/ mean CONFIG_ROOT/milestones.yaml and CONFIG_ROOT/human/.
6. In adopted projects, existing source/test roots from paths.code are relative to REPO_ROOT.

Never report that root-level human/, validation/, milestones.yaml, or project.yaml are missing until .hlv/project.yaml has been checked. Use hlv check --root <REPO_ROOT> for deterministic validation.

Locate Files

1. Read milestones.yaml → get current.id (referred to as {MID} below)
2. Open questions file: human/milestones/{MID}/open-questions.md
3. Contracts context: {MID}/contracts/
4. Artifacts context: human/milestones/{MID}/artifacts/

Core Rules

1. Write in the user's language. Match the language of open-questions.md.
2. One question at a time. Never dump all questions. Present one, wait for the answer, then move to the next.
3. Always recommend. For every question, give a concrete recommendation based on the project artifacts, contracts, and common engineering practice. Explain your reasoning in 1-2 sentences.
4. Three actions. For each question the user can:
   • Answer — provide a decision → you mark [x] and record the answer
   • Defer — not critical now → you mark [deferred] with a reason
   • Skip — come back later → leave [ ], move to next
5. Never invent requirements. Your recommendation is a suggestion. The user decides. If they disagree with your recommendation, use their answer.
6. Update files immediately. After each answer, update open-questions.md right away. Don't batch.
7. Update contracts if needed. When an answer changes contract behavior (new field, new error case, changed invariant), note it and tell the user which contracts need updating. Do NOT update contracts in this skill — that's /hlv-generate's job.

Flow

Step 1: Load context

1. Read project.yaml
2. Read milestones.yaml → get current.id ({MID})
3. Read human/milestones/{MID}/open-questions.md
4. Count open questions (- [ ])
5. Read the source artifacts referenced by each question
6. Read relevant contracts from {MID}/contracts/ to understand what each question affects

Step 2: Present summary

Open questions: <N> total (<M> resolved, <K> deferred)

Categories:
  <category 1>: <count> questions
  <category 2>: <count> questions

Let's go through them. I'll recommend an answer for each one.

Step 3: Walk through questions

For each unresolved - [ ] question, present:

── Question <N>/<total> ──────────────────────────

  <question text>

  Source: <artifact file>
  Affects: <which contracts or components this impacts>

  Recommendation: <your concrete suggestion>
  Reasoning: <why — based on artifacts, constraints, common practice>

  → answer / defer / skip?

How to recommend:

• Read the source artifact for context
• Check if contracts already imply an answer
• Consider project constraints (stack, NFR, infrastructure)
• For UX questions — suggest the simpler option for MVP, note it can be changed later
• For technical questions — suggest the standard/boring solution unless constraints require otherwise
• For infrastructure questions — suggest what matches the existing stack

After user responds:

• Answer given → update the line in open-questions.md:

  - [x] <question text> — source: <artifact>
    → <user's answer>
  

• Deferred → update the line:

  - [deferred] <question text> — source: <artifact>
    → deferred: <reason>
  

• Skipped → leave as is, move to next

Step 4: Update project files

The open-questions.md file is already updated in Step 3 (each answer is written immediately). No project.yaml update needed — open questions live in the milestone directory, not in project.yaml.

Step 5: Summary

── Questions resolved ────────────────────────────

  Answered:  <N>
  Deferred:  <K>
  Skipped:   <M>
  Remaining: <R> open (blockers for /hlv-verify)

  Contracts affected by answers:
    - <contract.id>: <what changed — e.g. "new phone format constraint">
    - <contract.id>: <what changed>

If remaining == 0:

All questions resolved. Run /hlv-generate to update contracts with the new answers, then /hlv-verify.

If remaining > 0:

<R> questions still open — these block /hlv-verify. Run /hlv-questions again when ready.

Tips

• Group related questions. If multiple questions are about the same topic, mention that context carries over.
• Speed is good. Most questions have obvious answers. Don't over-explain — give a quick recommendation and let the user confirm or override.
• Defer is fine. Not everything needs an answer now. Infrastructure details can wait until /hlv-implement. UX copy can wait until after MVP. Help the user understand what's truly blocking and what can be deferred.
• Watch for cascading answers. One answer may resolve or change another question. If you notice this, tell the user: "Your answer to Q3 also answers Q7 — should I mark it resolved too?"

Cleanup

After the skill completes:

1. Run hlv check to validate the project structure.
2. If answers affect contracts, suggest running /hlv-generate to update them.
3. Suggest /clear to free context before the next skill.