start

Interviews users in structured rounds to stress-test plans against domain glossaries and ADRs.

20|2|Updated May 16, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/reddb-io/red-skills --skill start-reddb-io
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: start
Source: https://github.com/reddb-io/red-skills/tree/main/plugins/dev/skills/engineering/start
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/reddb-io/red-skills --skill start-reddb-io

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Plans often hide unexamined assumptions, fuzzy terminology, and contradictions with existing code or documented decisions. This Skill runs a relentless grilling session that maps a plan as a design tree and challenges every decision against the project's domain model before any code is written. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Frontier-based interview rounds: Computes the set of decisions answerable now and asks them as one numbered round, never asking a question whose answer depends on another open question. - Inline documentation updates: Resolves terminology into .red/CONTEXT.md glossaries the moment a term is settled, and offers ADRs only when a decision is hard to reverse, surprising, and a real trade-off. - External reference ingestion: Fetches URLs, PDFs, and files through a wiki cache with single-line receipts, and lands changed docs through a worktree-based PR finalizer at session end. - Use Case: Before starting a billing feature, paste your plan and let the session expose that your code cancels entire Orders while your plan assumes partial cancellation, then record the resolved terms and an ADR. ## Quick Start Ask the AI to grill your plan by invoking the start skill with a pasted plan, URL, or file path as the argument.

Frequently Asked Questions about start

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I stress-test a plan before writing code?▼

Invoke the start skill with your plan as prose, a URL, or a file path. It interviews you in numbered rounds, asking only questions whose prerequisites are settled, and challenges contradictions between your statements, the code, and existing documentation.

What is an architecture decision record and when should I write one?▼

An ADR records that a decision was made and why, stored as a sequentially numbered file in .red/adr/. Write one only when the decision is hard to reverse, surprising without context, and the result of a real trade-off between genuine alternatives.

How do I maintain a domain glossary for a project?▼

Keep a .red/CONTEXT.md file with one-sentence definitions, aliases to avoid, relationships, and flagged ambiguities. The skill updates it inline the moment a term is resolved during the interview, one term per edit.

Can the skill fetch external URLs or PDFs during a session?▼

Yes, URLs and file paths introduced with intent to ingest are fetched through the wiki skill and cached under .red/wiki/raw/ for reuse across sessions. If caching is declined, content is read directly into context and the receipt is marked not cached.

Does the grilling session write code or produce a final spec?▼

No, the skill is read-only except for documentation updates. It ends in shared understanding, explicitly refusing to implement code, propose a final plan, or generate a spec document.