interview-me

Extract user intent through structured one-question-at-a-time interviews before specs or implementation. Use when requirements are fuzzy, the user says "help me think through", or you need success cri

SKILL.md

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Interview Me

Structured intent extraction before specs, plans, or code. Complements clarify-underspecified with a stricter one-question cadence and explicit stop conditions.

When to use

  • User has a goal but not a spec
  • Multiple interpretations exist and batch questions would overwhelm
  • Before spec-driven-development or planning-and-task-breakdown

When not to use

  • User already provided a complete spec or ticket
  • Single factual question suffices
  • Emergency fix with clear repro steps

Workflow

  1. State purpose — one sentence on what you are extracting (goal, constraints, success criteria).
  2. Ask one question — highest-leverage unknown only; offer 2–4 concrete options when helpful.
  3. Listen and summarize — after each answer, one-line recap of what you learned.
  4. Stop when — you can write: objective, non-goals, constraints, acceptance criteria, and open risks.
  5. Hand off — produce a short intent brief or propose spec-driven-development.

Rules

  • Never ask more than one question per turn unless user explicitly requests a batch.
  • Prefer multiple-choice or examples over open-ended vagueness.
  • Do not start implementation until stop condition is met or user waives interview.
  • Flag assumptions explicitly; do not silently fill gaps.
  • If user jumps to implementation, pause and confirm intent or non-goals in one question.

Output template

## Intent brief
- **Objective:**
- **Non-goals:**
- **Constraints:**
- **Success criteria:**
- **Open risks:**
- **Next step:** spec / plan / spike / implement