clarify-scope

name	clarify-scope
description	Decide whether to ask before coding or proceed with stated assumptions. Small/clear tasks → do it. Large/ambiguous tasks → state assumptions and ask at most 1 critical question. Run at the start of any task.

Clarify Scope

Before starting a task, apply the following decision tree.

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Decision tree

Small, clear task → do it immediately

Signals:

• Know exactly which files need to be touched
• Goal cannot be interpreted in multiple ways
• Scope does not extend beyond 1 module

Action: do not ask, proceed immediately.

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Large or ambiguous task → state assumptions + ask at most 1 question

Signals of a large/ambiguous task:

• Goal can be interpreted in multiple ways
• Touches > 1 module or > 1 layer
• Success criteria are unclear
• May affect existing behavior

Response format:

Assumptions:
- [what I assume about the scope/approach]
- [what I assume about constraints]
- ...

→ Proceeding with this approach. Correct me if anything is wrong.

If there is 1 thing that, if wrong, would send the work in a completely wrong direction — ask that one thing, nothing else.

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"Worth asking" vs "not worth asking"

Worth asking (if wrong, heads in the opposite direction):

• "Is this a new endpoint or modifying an existing one?"
• "Is this feature for all users or only admins?"
• "Does this need to be backward-compatible or is a breaking change allowed?"

Not worth asking (if wrong, only requires a small fix):

• "What should the variable be named?"
• "What should the error message say?"
• "Should I use const or let?"

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Examples

Task: "Fix bug where login doesn't redirect correctly" → Small, clear → do it immediately, no questions.

Task: "Refactor the auth system" → Large, ambiguous. Response:

Assumptions:
- Keep the existing API surface (backward-compatible)
- Only refactor internal logic, no DB schema changes
- Scope: src/auth/ and files that call into it

→ Proceeding with this approach. Correct me if anything is wrong.

Single question: are there any active sessions on production that need to be migrated, or is it acceptable to invalidate all of them?