| name | clarify |
| description | Use when a single DAE artifact has ambiguities to resolve. Triggers — "/engineer.clarify", "clarify this spec", "resolve ambiguities", "this is vague — tighten it". |
clarify
Resolve ambiguities in one DAE artifact through an iterative interview. A cross-cutting quality gate — runs on any artifact at any pipeline stage.
The clarify pattern is also embedded inside artifact-producing skills for their own in-flight ambiguities; this standalone skill is for ad-hoc cleanup after the fact.
When to use
On any one of: feature.md, acs.md, spec.md, plan.md, CHARTER.md. Invoked as /engineer.clarify <slug> <artifact> or /engineer.clarify <path>.
Not for: cross-artifact contradictions (consistency-check); changing what a feature does (feature-edit); resolutions that cascade across files (clarify the source here, then feature-edit).
Workflow
- Resolve + load — resolve the methodology root + manifest via
${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/dae_resolve.py (see references/resolving.md); locate the target artifact. Also load its parent contract for grounding (feature.md for acs/spec/plan; CHARTER.md for feature.md).
- Identify ambiguities — within this one artifact: language interpretable two ways, underspecified requirements, undefined domain terms, unclear scope boundaries, internal contradictions. Cross-artifact contradictions are out of scope (→
consistency-check). If none found, say so and stop.
- Resolve one at a time — per ambiguity, quote the ambiguous line and ask one question — multiple-choice (AskUserQuestion) when bounded, open-ended otherwise. Iterate until resolved or the user stops.
- Edit in place — encode each resolution into the target artifact; show old→new, confirm before writing. Edit only the target artifact.
- Flag downstream staleness — do NOT cascade. Identify downstream artifacts a resolution may have invalidated; list them in the handoff; recommend
feature-edit (which owns cascade).
- Handoff — emit a summary.
Handoff
Emit per ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/references/handoff-summary.md. checkpoint: null. If downstream staleness flagged: human_action_needed: yes, recommended_next: "/engineer.feature-edit to propagate".
References
- Foundation Design — artifact schemas
- The DAE methodology page — clarify as embedded pattern + standalone skill
