plan-interrogate
Drive a plan from sketch to commitment by resolving every open decision before any code is written.
Method
- Restate the plan in one paragraph. Confirm with the user that this is
the plan being interrogated. Do not proceed on a mis-restatement.
- Extract the decision tree. Every branch point becomes a node. Mark
each node as open (undecided) or resolved. A resolved node carries a source tag: user (the user answered), inferred (the codebase or an existing constraint settled it).
- Resolve in dependency order. A node is ready when every node it
depends on is resolved.
- For each ready open node, ask exactly one question. Keep the question
tight and binary or small-multiple-choice when possible.
- Pair every question with a recommended answer and one sentence of
reasoning. The user can confirm, pick a different option, or push back.
- Before asking, check whether the answer already lives in the codebase,
prior commits, or an existing doc. If so, skip the question and mark the node resolved with source inferred: <path>.
- Exit only when zero nodes are open. Print the resolved tree as a flat
list: Decision — Choice — Source (user | inferred: <path>).
Anti-patterns
- Asking multiple questions at once. The user loses context and you lose
the ability to react to each answer individually.
- Asking before exploring. If a fifteen-second read would answer the
question, read first.
- Asking without a recommendation. A question without a stance is a
survey; it offloads design onto the user.
- Rolling past an unresolved node. If a dependency is not pinned, the
downstream question is premature.
Output contract
A single decision ledger the user can paste into the plan doc. No prose summary. No hedging. If the user declines to decide a node, mark it DEFERRED with the reason the user gave — this is not the same as open.