Clarify Question Loop
Ask targeted questions to resolve ambiguous requests before proceeding.
Installation
- Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.
Skills load from
~/.claude/skills/when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then runclaudein any terminal to verify.One-time setupnpm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-codeAlready have it? Skip ahead.
- Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.
This copies the whole skill folder into
~/.claude/skills/clarify-question-loop-agentlas-ai/— the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)
Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.
Quick install (SKILL.md only)Sign up to copy - Restart Claude Code.
Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from
~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup. - Just ask Claude.
Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.
Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.
When Claude uses it
Use when a meta-agent request is too ambiguous to safely generate, package, publish, or adapt without one to five targeted questions.
What this skill does
Clarify Question Loop
Ask only questions that change the generated package, runtime adapter, safety boundary, or public/private release decision.
For /hep-build creation or behavior-changing packaging, this is not a
substitute for the Builder Interview and Research Gate in
docs/builder-interview-research-gate.md. Run that gate first: ask an 8-12
question first batch, research similar agent repositories or comparables and
academic/professional theory, then use this clarify loop only for the remaining
narrow ambiguities.
Procedure
- Classify the current best mode.
- If single-agent vs team selection would change the package shape and the independent ownership boundaries are unclear, ask before generation. The first batch must include this plain-language question: "이 일을 한 명의 전문가가 처음부터 끝까지 맡으면 되나요, 아니면 조사/분석/검토처럼 여러 전문가가 나눠 맡고 마지막에 합쳐야 하나요?"
- Follow up on role count, role-specific tools/permissions, whether outputs must be synthesized, and whether artifacts are sequential dependencies or independent parallel packets.
- Identify missing facts that would change files or safety.
- Ask one to five short questions, preferably three. If more than five functional-quality questions remain, return to the Builder Interview and Research Gate instead of pretending the package is ready.
- Do not ask for secrets. Ask for secret names or setup boundaries instead.
- After answers arrive, re-run mode classification if needed.
- Generate or repair the package using the answers and list assumptions.
Budgets and stop rule (briefing interview engine)
This loop shares the briefing interview engine's contract
(agentlas_cloud/interview/): a question is only worth asking if the answer
would change execution, not just its phrasing. Respect the surface budget
(chat 3-5 in one batch, stormbreaker <= 8 across two batches, build 8-12 plus
follow-ups). 'decide later' is always a valid answer — record it as deferred,
never re-ask. When answers you auto-confirmed from code/memory reach three in a
row, the next question must go to the human.
Default Questions
- Which runtime targets should be supported?
- Is this local-only, private-team, public open-source, or marketplace output?
- What tools, APIs, files, or services must it use?
- What should count as success?
- What must it never read, write, publish, or spend?
- 이 일을 한 명의 전문가가 처음부터 끝까지 맡으면 되나요, 아니면 조사/분석/검토처럼 여러 전문가가 나눠 맡고 마지막에 합쳐야 하나요?
Plain-Language Question Rule
Never ask non-technical users to choose internal labels such as
single-agent, team-builder, ownership boundary, memory/context, synthesis,
or produces/consumes. Translate them before asking:
- ownership boundary -> "누가 따로 맡아야 하는 일인지";
- memory/context -> "각자 따로 기억해야 할 자료, 기준, 진행 상황";
- tools/permissions -> "각자 써도 되는 계정, 파일, 웹사이트, 도구";
- synthesis -> "마지막에 결과를 한데 모으는 일";
- sequential dependency -> "앞 사람이 끝낸 결과를 다음 사람이 이어받는 순서".
If a question still sounds technical, split it into two shorter everyday questions and give examples such as 조사, 분석, 검토, 승인.
Reference
See docs/clarify-question-loop.md.
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