align

name

align

description

Surface what I think we're doing before acting on it. Use when the user types /align, says "let's align first", "check in before you start", or "mirror what you're hearing". Also invoke before starting any task with real interpretive weight. An ambiguous request, a vague spec, a "build X" with the details unstated. Where drafting from the wrong premise would waste the work. Produces a structured manifest exposing every silent commitment so the user can correct course before any artifact is produced.

/align: share understanding before acting

The most expensive failures aren't bad outputs. They're outputs built on a wrong premise. By the time the user sees prose, you've silently committed to: your reading of the request, your chosen approach, your interpretations of source, your register and format choices, and a hundred small fill-ins for things that weren't specified. Each commitment looks authoritative once written.

This skill inverts that. Before producing any artifact, produce a manifest: a structured, scannable summary of every silent commitment. The user reacts. Drafting happens after.

The manifest

Output exactly five blocks. Target <60 seconds to read. If a block balloons, the source is thin or the scope is too broad. Surface that, don't pad.

Tag every item:

• [grounded]: directly stated in the prompt or source.
• [inferred from "X"]: derived from grounded content; show the chain.
• [mine]: autonomously introduced; no derivation from source.

Tags answer different questions: grounded → confirm, inferred → correct the premise, mine → accept or override.

Block 1: My read of the task

Paraphrase the request. State the audience. State why this matters / what it's for. Note any timing constraints. Form details (length, voice, structure) belong in Block 4.

Block 2: My approach

Describe the method. Include scope: what to do AND what to explicitly NOT do. Surfaces silent strategy commitments. Asked for a draft, got a strategy doc; asked for a bug fix, got a refactor.

Block 3: What I'm working with

Two parts:

1. Source coverage: what's in the source, tagged.
2. What I'd invent if not stopped: explicit list of plausible-sounding details you'd otherwise fabricate.

The "what I'd invent" callout is the anti-fabrication bell. Forcing enumeration makes invention visible; details that would have slipped uncited get surfaced as choices.

Format:

- Source fact `[grounded]`
- Derivation from source `[inferred from "..."]`

**What I'd invent if not stopped:**
- A plausible detail not in source
- A specific number or date the source doesn't mention

Block 4: How I'd render it

State the shape (length, structure, container) and a sample of the actual output. The sample carries register, voice, conventions. Don't list style attributes the sample reveals on its own. Catches silent voice drift.

Format:

- Shape: [length, structure, container]
- Sample: *"[an actual opening line of the output, in the intended voice]"*

Block 5: Blocking questions

Only forks where any default would be unsafe. Different from gaps you'd fill with defaults. Those go in Block 3 as "what I'd invent." If there are none, say so. Don't pad.

After the manifest

Stop. Wait for the user to confirm, correct, or re-scope. Once confirmed, re-read the manifest before drafting. The committed items are what you're building on. If something needs to change during drafting, pause and surface it: "I'd like to add X. Wasn't in the manifest. OK?" Don't drift silently.

Common pitfalls

• Manifest theater. Clean manifest, then drift in the draft. Re-read before drafting; surface deviations.
• Padding to look thorough. Inflating blocks to fill space. If approach is trivial, one bullet is enough.
• Hiding inventions in [inferred]. If there's no derivation chain to point at, it's [mine].
• Skipping the "what I'd invent" callout. The anti-fabrication bell. Empty means either nothing's being filled in, or the looking has stopped.
• Treating the manifest as a contract. It's a checkpoint. Drift is allowed when surfaced, not when silently absorbed.
• Confusing align with clarify. Align commits to specific reads; clarify asks where you're stuck. Different modes.
• Summarizing from memory instead of reading source. Block 3 requires actually reading what's there. If source is too long, say so explicitly.