domain-interview

name	domain-interview
description	How to interview the human to extract what they actually want. What questions to ask and when to stop asking.

When to Interview

Before writing an NLSpec for anything non-trivial, interview the human if:

• The intent is ambiguous about key behaviors (not just implementation details)
• The scope could be interpreted narrowly or broadly with materially different outcomes
• The domain is unfamiliar and you lack enough context to make reasonable choices

Do NOT interview about implementation details — make a reasonable choice and flag it in the spec's constraints section.

What to Ask

Scope boundaries — what is explicitly in and out of scope

• "Should this handle X, or is that a future concern?" Success criteria — what does "done" look like for the human
• "How would you know this is working correctly?"
• "What would make this version a success even if Z isn't done?"

Constraints — real constraints vs. preferences

• "Is [technology choice] required, or do you have flexibility?"
• "Are there existing systems this must integrate with?"

When to Stop Asking

Stop when you can answer this question confidently:

"If I write a spec now and Builder implements it, would the human be satisfied?"

Indicators you can stop:

• You can state the behavioral requirements without hedging
• You know what's in scope and what's deferred
• You know the success criteria

Do not ask about implementation decisions that belong to Builder. Do not ask about things you can reasonably default — pick a choice and note it.

Conducting the Interview

• Ask at most 3-5 questions at a time — large question lists get incomplete answers
• Prefer concrete, binary questions over open-ended ones for scope decisions
• After each round, restate your updated understanding before asking more