ask-questions-if-underspecifiedlisted

# Ask Questions If Underspecified The "stop and clarify" gate. Many AI Coding failures trace back to "Agent assumed X, X was wrong, 4 hours wasted." This skill catches that early. ## Core principle Only ask **decision-shaping** questions. If the answer changes nothing about what gets built, don't ask. ## Question taxonomy For each candidate question, classify: | Type | Ask? | Example | |---|---|---| | Decision-shaping | YES | "Should L4 PHI be stored encrypted at rest or only redacted?" | | Preference | Only if 2 acceptable paths | "Frontend React or Vue?" | | Trivia | NO | "What color is the button?" (decide and move on) | | Compliance-touching | ALWAYS | Anything touching tier / model / audit | ## Workflow 1. List unknowns surfaced from the upstream artifact (PRD / TDD / design). 2. Classify each per the taxonomy. 3. Keep at most 5 of type decision-shaping or compliance-touching. 4. Phrase each question so the answer is **bounded** (multiple-choice or numeric). 5. Format with AskUserQuestion tool when available; otherwise inline. 6. **Never** ask "is this OK" / "should I proceed" — those are not clarifications. ## Output A list of ≤ 5 questions, each with: - Header (≤ 12 chars chip label) - Why it matters (one line) - 2-4 mutually exclusive options (or "numeric input") - Recommended default ## Common failure modes 1. **Question dump** — asking 15 questions exhausts the user. Cap at 5; everything else is your call. 2. **Open-ended phrasing** — "What do you think