| name | interviewing |
| description | Systematic questioning to clarify requirements, goals, and constraints. Use when there's ambiguity about what the user wants, hidden complexity needs uncovering, or you need to understand before proceeding. Triggers on unclear requirements, vague goals, or when other skills encounter fundamental ambiguity. |
| user-invocable | true |
| invocation-hint | <topic or area to explore> |
Interviewing
When to Use
- Requirements or goals are ambiguous
- User isn't clear about what they want
- Hidden complexity might derail implementation
- Another skill encounters fundamental ambiguity
Skip when requirements are already clear or user wants to proceed without clarification.
Core Methodology
Ask Non-Obvious Questions
Probe deeper than surface-level:
- Why: What problem does this solve? Why now?
- Constraints: What would make this unacceptable? What can't change?
- Failure modes: What's the worst case? What happens when X fails?
- Success: How will you know this worked? What does "done" look like?
- Tradeoffs: What are you willing to give up? Minimum viable version?
- Assumptions: You mentioned X, but what about Y? Is that always true?
Avoid
- Restatements of what's already said
- Yes/no confirmations
- Generic questions that apply to anything
- Leading questions
Follow the Thread
Dig deeper when answers reveal complexity. Don't jump topics when current one has unexplored depth.
Batch Questions
Use AskUserQuestion with questions array for 2-4 related questions exploring different angles of the same area.
Saturation
Stop when:
- Answers stop revealing new information
- You could explain requirements to someone else
- User expresses readiness to proceed
Output
Summarize what you've learned:
**Clarified Requirements:**
- **Goal**: [specific goal]
- **Constraints**: [hard limits]
- **Success criteria**: [how we'll know it worked]
- **Key tradeoffs**: [prioritizing vs deprioritizing]
- **Open questions**: [if any]
Integration
| Skill | When to use interviewing first |
|---|
| Brainstorming | User unclear about what they want (not just how) |
| Technical Planning | Requirements too vague to plan |
| Debugging | Problem description unclear |
| Blog Writing | Topic or purpose unclear |
For writing, also ask: What's the core message? Who's the audience? What triggered this?
Examples
See reference/examples.md for project and writing interview flows.
