reverse-prompt

To gather implementation requirements before refactoring, you need to surface hidden assumptions and edge cases by asking high-impact clarifying questions. This approach postpones actual coding until preference-driven decisions and scope boundaries are fully resolved.

Reverse prompting in software engineering is a requirements-gathering technique where the assistant asks five or more clarifying questions before non-trivial builds. It forces the resolution of implementation tradeoffs and integration points to prevent rushed coding.

You clarify vague feature requests by generating targeted clarifying questions focused on edge cases, failure behavior, and integration points. This turns ambiguous instructions into precise constraints so the final implementation matches the original intent.

You should use clarifying questions before writing code whenever multiple valid implementation paths exist for non-trivial builds, refactors, or script requests. This prevents rushed implementation and ensures final constraints match user intent reliably.

This requirements-gathering approach is designed for non-trivial builds and refactors where multiple valid implementation paths exist. Simple script requests with a single obvious solution typically do not require postponing implementation for clarifying questions.

Your refactoring implementation misses hidden edge cases because hidden assumptions and preference-driven decisions were not surfaced before coding. Generating clarifying questions about scope boundaries and failure behavior prevents these missed edge cases.