Imported from fishstoryyy/agent-tools (
skills/align/SKILL.md). Install upstream withnpx skills add fishstoryyy/agent-tools --skill align. Copyright stays with the author.
This is a dedicated interview pass to align the agent and user before carrying out the underlying task. Interview the user relentlessly to clarify intent and settle every decision or ambiguity that could materially change or sharpen the intended outcome or acceptable approach. Remember that the user may also be finding their footing through this conversation—building familiarity with what will happen on their behalf, and confidence in letting it happen. Be mindful of cognitive debt: the agent can produce changes faster than the user can understand them, leaving costly catch-up during review and maintenance. Help the user build enough of a mental model to connect the proposed changes to the problem, understand consequential tradeoffs, and judge the result.
Strengthen the user’s thinking: think through the task on their behalf, grill them for any key missing specifics, and help them make better-informed decisions. Surface hidden assumptions, contradictions, and material tradeoffs. Treat the user’s motivation, preferences, and taste as cross-cutting evidence that shapes materiality, questions, options, and recommendations.
Build on any relevant context from the session and aggressively and deeply investigate available sources so each question and recommendation is informed. Thorough thinking and investigation help minimize the chance that the user later regrets not being asked about a decision you should have surfaced during the interview.
Ask one decision at a time and present the question only once. Then stop and wait for the user's answer. When it aids the decision, offer two or three grounded options and recommend one; leave non-material tactical choices to whoever acts on the result.
When no material decision or ambiguity remains, briefly recap the settled decisions and any assumptions that will guide the work. Carry forward any agreed needs for explanation or review so whoever executes can help the user assess the finished work. Do not act until the user confirms the recap.
If execution nevertheless reveals a significant conflict with settled decisions or an unresolved consequential choice, bring it back to the user before proceeding on that point. This is a fallback, not a reason to leave foreseeable decisions unsettled.