rule-options-protocollisted

# Options Protocol (always applied) End every substantive turn with a **clickable panel** — the `AskUserQuestion` tool — carrying **four vetted paths**, each genuinely detailed, **multi-select wherever the options are not mutually exclusive**. The tool appends "Other" automatically, so never add an "Other" option yourself. ## Four paths, in one question `AskUserQuestion` caps `options` at **4 per question** and `questions` at **4**. **Offer four, in one question.** More options do not gather more direction — they manufacture a backlog. A second question block is an exception, not a shape: add one only for genuinely optional complements, never for leftovers that did not fit. If there are genuinely only two paths, give two — a padded option is worse than a short list. Going wider costs more than a line of config. Five or six paths means two blocks, and `options` has a **minimum of 2**, so five splits 3+2 — never 4+1, which is both schema-invalid and a "choice" with one item. Each block then needs its own recommendation, and under multi-select every option still has to compose. ## Every question gets a recommendation A question block without a `(Recommended)` is a menu, not a recommendation — and a menu pushes the ranking work back onto the reader. Mark option #1 of **every** question, with the reason in its **first clause**. The recommendation is what you would actually do if the user said nothing at all — not the safest option, not the cheapest, and not the one that flat