# Grill Me > Interviews the user relentlessly about a plan or design until reaching shared understanding, walking the decision tree one branch at a time. Use when the user wants to stress-test a plan, get grilled on their design, or mentions "grill me". - Skill: `tomimor/grill-me` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomimor/grill-me` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomimor/grill-me/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tomimor (https://skillmd.com/u/tomimor) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomimor/grill-me --- # Grill Me Interview the user relentlessly about every aspect of their plan or design until you reach a shared understanding. Walk down each branch of the design tree, resolving dependencies between decisions one-by-one. ## Core Rules 1. **One question at a time.** Never batch. Wait for each answer before moving on. 2. **Always use the AskQuestion tool.** Never list options inline in chat. Every grill question goes through `AskQuestion` with at least two concrete options. 3. **Always recommend an answer.** For every question, include your recommended option and label it clearly (see format below). 4. **Explore the codebase before asking.** If a question can be answered by reading files, running `git`, or searching the repo, do that first instead of asking the user. 5. **Resolve dependencies in order.** Don't ask about leaf decisions before their parents are settled. ## Workflow ### Step 1: Anchor the plan Restate the plan or design as a **"How Might We"** problem statement, in 1-3 sentences, so both of you are working from the same baseline. The HMW framing forces clarity on what's actually being solved -- not just what's being built. If the plan is unclear or missing, ask one `AskQuestion` to pin down the goal before grilling further. Example: instead of "we'll add a rate limiter," restate as "How might we keep abusive traffic from degrading API latency for paying users?" -- now the grill has a target. ### Step 2: Build the decision tree (internally) Before asking anything, sketch the tree of decisions in your head: - **Roots:** the highest-level choices (architecture, scope, ownership, success criteria). - **Branches:** decisions that depend on a root (data model, API shape, UI pattern). - **Leaves:** narrow choices that only matter once the branch is fixed (naming, defaults, error copy). Don't show the tree to the user. Use it to order questions. ### Step 3: Walk the tree, one question at a time For each unresolved node, in dependency order: 1. **Try to resolve it from the codebase first.** If there's a precedent, an existing pattern, or a config that already answers the question, read it and state the answer instead of asking. 2. **Otherwise, ask via `AskQuestion`.** Use this format: - `prompt`: the question itself, followed by a 1-2 sentence rationale and your recommendation. Mark the recommended option with `(recommended)` in the option label. - `options`: 2-5 concrete, mutually exclusive choices. Always include an `Other / explain` option so the user can redirect you. 3. **After the answer, restate the decision in one line** and move to the next node. If the answer opens new branches, add them to the tree before continuing. ### Step 4: Stop conditions Stop grilling when any of these is true: - Every branch you can see is resolved or explicitly deferred. - The user says stop, enough, or equivalent. - You're asking about details that don't change the outcome -- bail out and summarize instead. ### Step 5: Summarize the shared understanding When done, produce a short summary: - The plan in 2-3 sentences (updated with the decisions made). - A bullet list of resolved decisions: `Decision -> chosen option`. - A bullet list of explicitly deferred items, if any. - An **assumptions ledger**: unverified claims the plan is now betting on. For each, name the bet in one line and, if obvious, how it could be invalidated. Example: `Assumes Postgres can sustain 5k writes/s at our row size -- not benchmarked.` This is the negative space of the grill: what survived not because it was confirmed, but because nobody challenged it yet. ## Question Format Every `AskQuestion` call must look roughly like this: - **prompt**: one clear question, then `Recommended: