| name | grill-me |
| description | Forces explicit scope clarification before any code change. Invoked at Stage 2 of the Synthex development loop (see prd.md). Produces 3–7 scope-defining questions and waits for human confirmation before implementation begins. No code may be written until the Grilled scope is written to HANDOFF.md. |
/grill-me
When to invoke
Every non-trivial task enters this skill before any code is written. The loop protocol (see prd.md) makes this Stage 2.
Trivial exceptions (skip Grill-Me):
- Typo fixes in existing text
- Pure dependency bumps with no code change
- Reverting a single commit at Phill's direct request
Everything else — Grill-Me first.
Contract
- Read the ticket. Use Linear MCP to fetch the Linear issue referenced in the current loop. If no Linear ID is in scope, stop and ask for one.
- Read only what the ticket names. Do not explore the codebase beyond the files and directories the ticket explicitly mentions, plus any files the user has pointed at in this session. Token discipline.
- Produce 3–7 numbered questions. Each question must cover one of:
- Scope boundaries — what is explicitly out of scope?
- Data model — new tables, enum extensions, migration story?
- Failure modes — what happens if this breaks in production?
- Auth / authorisation — public? org-scoped? admin-only?
- Rollback — reversible without data loss?
- Acceptance — what does "done" look like in one sentence?
- Human gates — what needs a human before or after this ships?
- State your assumption per question. If the question is unanswered, that assumption is what you will proceed with.
- Wait. Do not continue to implementation until Phill responds with either:
- Direct answers per question
- The literal token
proceed with assumptions
- The literal token
reject (abandons the loop)
Output format
## Grill-Me — <SYN-XXX>
**Read:** ticket + <files>
**Scope as I understand it:** <one sentence>
**Questions:**
1. <question>
*Assumption if unanswered:* <fallback>
2. <question>
*Assumption if unanswered:* <fallback>
... (up to 7)
**What I will NOT do in this loop:** <one-sentence exclusion list>
Reply with answers, `proceed with assumptions`, or `reject`.
After confirmation
Append the confirmed scope to .claude/loop/HANDOFF.md under ## Grilled:
### <SYN-XXX> — <date>
**Confirmed scope:** <one or two sentences>
**Key decisions:**
- <decision> — <reason>
- <decision> — <reason>
**Out of scope:** <exclusion list>
Then — and only then — begin implementation.
Hard rules
- No code before confirmation. Write, Edit, and NotebookEdit are off-limits until Grilled scope is written.
- No more than 7 questions. If the scope needs more, the task is too big — break it into two loops.
- No leading questions. Do not ask "you want X, right?" — ask the question neutrally and state your assumption separately.
- One Linear ticket per Grill-Me. Compound scopes are forbidden (see prd.md §8).
