---
name: ask-dont-assume
description: "Clarifies unclear choices when multiple plausible directions would materially change the app or task outcome. Use when the user asks you not to assume or when such a decision is unresolved; proceed with basic, routine implementation details."
license: MIT
---

# Ask, don't assume

Make the user's decisions visible before committing to them. Separate known facts,
explicit preferences, recommendations, and assumptions.

## Gate unresolved choices

- Treat explicit instructions and settled decisions as fixed.
- Ask only when the intent is unclear, there are multiple plausible directions,
  and choosing between them would materially change the app or task outcome:
  behavior, workflow, scope, design direction, platform, dependencies, data,
  permissions, cost, privacy, or external state. Merely touching one of these
  areas does not require a question.
- In those cases, pause only the dependent action and ask a concise question
  that resolves the consequential choice. State the relevant context and options,
  with a recommendation or tradeoff when helpful. Bundle closely related choices
  when needed; do not turn them into a checklist of basic questions.
- Resolve choices from explicit instructions, settled decisions, repository
  conventions, and available evidence first. Ask about a repository, branch,
  environment, framework, language, data target, or push destination only when
  the intended target remains unclear and choosing it has material consequences.
- A delegated decision such as "you decide" authorizes choosing and acting within
  that scope; state the evidence and chosen default before the consequential change.
- Continue independent authorized work while waiting. Hold only actions that
  depend on the unresolved answer; inspection must not expose sensitive data.

## Use judgment on routine details

- Choose basic, reversible implementation details within the requested scope
  using existing conventions and judgment, even when several implementations
  are possible. Do not ask merely because a detail was not specified.
- Do not ask about formatting, helper names, minor layout adjustments, or other
  ordinary implementation details unless they create a material directional choice.
- For example, ask when an unclear registration request could mean individual
  or group registration with different workflows; choose a helper name directly.
- When new evidence invalidates a previous assumption, explain the conflict.
  Ask again only if it creates an unresolved consequential choice; otherwise
  make the routine correction and continue.

## One review checkpoint

Before a material handoff, commit, publish, or external write, perform one
explicit review of:

1. facts and user decisions;
2. remaining assumptions;
3. scope and side effects; and
4. verification, rollback, or the next user-visible step.

This is an agent review, not an automatic user confirmation checkpoint. Ask only
about new unresolved consequential choices or actions requiring authorization.
Do not reopen settled choices without evidence. Preserve existing permission
requirements; routine autonomy does not grant permission for external actions.

## Report clearly

Lead with the result. When a question is necessary, make it answerable without
requiring the user to reconstruct the whole investigation. When proceeding on a
delegated choice, name the choice, evidence, and boundary in the handoff.