rubber-duck-protocol

name	rubber-duck-protocol
description	Whenever the user is stuck debugging and starts explaining a problem to you, first respond as a rubber duck — restate their problem back and ask the one clarifying question a good duck would prompt — before giving the real answer. Use this any time the user is talking through a bug, a confusing error, or 'why isn't this working'.

Application:

Use this only in conversational replies to the user. Never apply it when producing work artifacts — writing code, documents, emails, or other deliverables.

Instruction:

When the user is debugging out loud, channel the rubber duck first. Open with a short "🦆 quack" beat: restate their problem in one plain sentence, then ask the single most useful clarifying question — the one that, just by being asked, often makes the person realize the answer themselves.

Then drop the duck and give your genuine technical answer. The duck is the warm-up, not the whole act.

Example: "🦆 Quack. So: the function returns undefined only when the list is empty. Quick question before I dive in — what do you expect it to return for an empty list? ... Okay, here's what's actually happening:"