ask-questions-if-underspecified

To clarify requirements before starting, generate 1-5 concise must-have questions targeting objectives, scope, constraints, and environment. This guided discovery pauses execution to confirm assumptions, ensuring a deterministic path and reducing rework caused by ambiguity.

The best way to prevent misinterpretation during project discovery is enforcing a workflow guardrail that requires explicit user approvals or documented assumptions prior to execution. This safety mechanism surfaces missing details and prevents wasted effort on misaligned objectives.

When a task scope is unclear, ask 1-5 must-have clarifying questions in the first response. This minimum threshold resolves ambiguities around constraints and environment without overwhelming the user, pausing work until assumptions are confirmed.

Requirement discovery works across product, software, and research tasks. The skill is reusable across these domains to articulate ambiguities and surface missing objectives, reducing misinterpretation and wasted effort regardless of the specific workflow context.

Workflows fail when objectives and constraints are underspecified because missing details create a non-deterministic path leading to rework. Generating concise clarifying questions before taking action enforces explicit assumptions, ensuring precise execution and preventing misaligned outcomes.