what-context-needed

name	what-context-needed
description	Before answering any question or starting any task, identify what files and context are needed for an accurate, complete response. Use when the agent needs to understand what it doesn't know yet — the meta-cognitive 'stop and think' gate.

TASKLANG TYPE SKILL

IDENTITY "What Context Do I Need?"

Meta-cognitive skill that makes agents self-aware about their knowledge gaps. Before answering any question, the agent identifies what files it needs to see, what it's uncertain about, and what it already knows from the conversation. This is the playbook for someone who asks the right questions before acting.

!!! The #1 failure mode of AI agents is acting without sufficient context. !!! This skill is a GATE — run it BEFORE jumping to answers. !!! Better to ask for 5 files and be right than guess and be wrong.

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Day-to-Day Workflows

MAP workflows "workflows/analyze-question.md" -> "Decompose question into sub-questions, identify files needed for each" "workflows/gather-context.md" -> "Systematically read identified files and extract relevant information" "workflows/validate-context.md" -> "Verify gathered context is sufficient before proceeding"

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Knowledge (derived from workflows)

KNOWLEDGE PATTERNS - "Question decomposition — break complex questions into sub-questions, each needing specific files" - "Import tracing — if a file is relevant, its imports and importers may be too" - "Test adjacency — for any source file, check for co-located test files" - "Config awareness — check for .env, config files, package.json that affect behavior" - "Type definition hunting — when code references types, trace to their definition files" - "Already-seen tracking — maintain awareness of what's in the conversation context" - "Glob before Grep — use file patterns to narrow scope before searching content"

CONVENTIONS - "Always categorize: Must See (required) | Should See (helpful) | Already Have | Uncertain" - "Explain WHY each file is needed — not just list paths" - "Check conversation history before requesting files already discussed" - "Prioritize Must See — max 10 files. If more needed, decompose the question" - "When uncertain, say so explicitly with what would resolve it" - "Never answer a question while flagging [GAP] — resolve gaps first"

STRATEGY CAPTURE: patterns of which file types are needed for which question types UPDATE_FREE: references/ UPDATE_APPROVAL: SKILL.md

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Companion Files

REQUIRE

• FORMAT.md # output format for context requests
• VOICE.md # communication style
• DRY_RUN.md # dry-run behavior (identical to normal — read-only skill)
• workflows/analyze-question.md # question decomposition workflow
• workflows/gather-context.md # context gathering workflow
• workflows/validate-context.md # context validation workflow
• references/ # accumulated question-to-file patterns