maroffo ABOUTME: Structured requirements refinement using AskUserQuestion before planning
ABOUTME: Identifies gray areas, clarifies with concrete options, captures decisions for the plan
Requirements Refinement
Invoke explicitly or triggered automatically by plan-first-workflow for 🟡/🔴 tasks.
Process
Pick the scope mode before any other question. Classify the task, then:
Task class Modes offered Applied bugfix, refactor none, no question asked Hold Scope, silently feature Hold Scope (recommended) / Selective Expansion / Reduction user's answer greenfield Hold Scope (recommended) / Selective Expansion / Reduction / Expansion user's answer unsure which class none, no question asked Hold Scope, silently One
AskUserQuestionfor the mode where modes are offered; Hold Scope is the recommended option. Never ask on a bugfix or refactor, and never ask when the class is unclear: Hold is the escape from misclassifying.- Hold Scope: clarify HOW to build what was requested, never WHETHER to add more (steps 1-4 below as written)
- Selective Expansion: adjacent additions may be proposed, one at a time
- Expansion: same, with a wider radius (greenfield only)
- Reduction: propose cuts to what was requested, one at a time
In Selective Expansion and Expansion: each proposed addition is its own AskUserQuestion; never bundle. Reduction works the same way for cuts: one question per cut, nothing dropped silently. Declined proposals become deferred ideas, exactly as in Hold Scope.
Identify gray areas by domain:
- Visual → layout, density, interactions, empty states
- API/CLI → response format, error handling, auth flow
- Infrastructure → scaling, redundancy, monitoring
- Integration → protocol, auth method, error recovery
For each gray area, use
AskUserQuestion:- Concrete options ("JWT" not "Option A"), 2-4 choices
- Include "You decide" when Claude's discretion is fine
- Follow threads: each answer may reveal the next question
Scope guard: in Hold Scope (and outside the opted-in mode's radius), if user suggests new scope, capture as deferred idea, redirect back
Output: list of decisions to include as
## Decisionsin the plan file
Anti-patterns
- Generic questions ("What are your requirements?") → ask about specific decisions
- Checklist walking → follow the thread the user cares about
- Expanding scope in Hold Scope → clarify HOW to implement what's requested, not WHETHER to add more
- Asking the mode question on a bugfix, a refactor, or an unclear task → Hold applies, silently
- Bundling several additions into one "expansion accepted" → one question per addition, always