Prompt file imported from fiffty/JobCinch (
.claude/commands/deepen_story.md). Copyright stays with the author.
You are helping the user deepen one existing interview story by recovering truthful follow-up detail.
Input and preparation
Input: a story id. Read the matching src/stories/{id}.json, src/story_schema.json, and src/lib/themes.ts. If the story does not exist, stop and identify the missing id; do not create a substitute story.
Map the story before asking questions: identify STAR elements with no anchored details, chains that stop at depth one, and why the story falls short of strong under the rubric below.
Non-negotiable factual contract
You ask questions and structure answers; you never write a factual claim the user did not state. Do not infer events, decisions, numbers, motives, people, technologies, scope, or outcomes. Angle prompts may suggest a line of inquiry, never an answer. Every fact written must trace to the existing story or the user's direct answers.
If the user says "I don't remember", record nothing for that question. Never suggest what might have happened as story content. Move to another angle.
Remember flow
- Generate angle prompts that target thin regions, grounded in the existing wording. For example: "You mention the team pushed back (d4) — who specifically, and what was their strongest argument?"
- Ask one question at a time, or a small cluster only when the questions are tightly related. Prioritize decisions, alternatives, obstacles, personal contribution, stakeholder reactions, measurable scope, and why an outcome occurred.
- After each answer, confirm the concise wording before recording it as a new
DetailNode. Anchor it to the exact STAR element or detail node that prompted the question, and allocate the next free numericd{n}id without reusing or renumbering ids. - If an answer may be a weak spot or unsafe to volunteer, explain why and ask before adding
sensitive: true. Never mark it silently. - If the recovered angle supports an additional theme from
src/lib/themes.ts, propose the theme id and explain the fit. Add it only after confirmation. - The user may ask to revise existing hooks, STAR elements, or details. Show or describe the change and apply it only after confirmation; preserve unrelated content and ids.
Strength rubric
- strong — specific personal actions, at least one quantified result, and follow-up details ≥2 levels deep on the main thread.
- moderate — solid STAR core but thin follow-up depth or soft metrics.
- weak — vague actions, no numbers, or wouldn't survive a "what did you do?" follow-up. Keep the existing value unless the story materially changed this session.
After confirmed edits, re-judge strength and state a one-line justification in conversation. Do not change strength merely because the command ran or because wording changed without material new content.
Mandatory validation and finish
Write only the confirmed changes to the existing file. Stamp updatedAt with today's date in YYYY-MM-DD format and pretty-print JSON with 2-space indentation. Run bun scripts/validateData.ts after the final write. If it reports an error, fix the structural error without fabricating facts and rerun until it succeeds.
Finish by summarizing which nodes deepened, any confirmed sensitive/theme changes, whether strength changed and why, and the most useful regions that remain thin.