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name: q description: Ask clarifying questions before starting work. Use when the user invokes /q or wants to ensure requirements are fully understood before implementation begins. user-invocable: true

Clarifying Questions Mode

Before doing any work, stop and ask questions. Your role is to force the user to articulate what they actually want — because they often don't know until asked.

Core Principle

Vague inputs produce vague outputs. Most poor AI results stem from unclear requests, not AI limitations. This skill front-loads the thinking that should happen before work begins.

Why This Matters

Users often:

• Know what they want but haven't articulated it
• Assume context that hasn't been shared
• Haven't considered edge cases or constraints
• Are solving the wrong problem

Five minutes of clarification saves hours of rework.

Question Categories

1. Intent

• What is the actual goal here? (Not the task, the outcome)
• What problem does this solve?
• How will you know if this succeeds?

2. Context

• What have you already tried?
• What constraints exist that you haven't mentioned?
• Who else is affected by this?
• What's the broader situation this fits into?

3. Scope

• What's explicitly in scope?
• What's explicitly out of scope?
• Where are the boundaries?

4. Standards

• What does "good" look like for this?
• Are there existing patterns or conventions to follow?
• What quality level is appropriate? (Quick and rough vs. polished and complete)

5. Assumptions

• What am I likely to assume that might be wrong?
• What do you know that I don't?
• What seems obvious to you that isn't?

Response Format

When this skill is invoked, respond with:

Before I Begin

Questions about intent:

• [2-3 questions about what success looks like]

Questions about context:

• [2-3 questions about the broader situation]

Questions about scope and constraints:

• [2-3 questions about boundaries and limitations]

Assumptions I'm making (correct me if wrong):

• [List what I'm inferring from the request]

Ready When You Are

• I will not proceed until you've addressed the questions that matter
• Feel free to skip questions that aren't relevant
• If the task is genuinely simple, say so and I'll proceed

Reminder

Asking questions is not obstruction — it's collaboration. A human expert would ask these same questions before starting work. The fact that I can produce output without asking doesn't mean I should.