User Input
$ARGUMENTS
You MUST consider the user input before proceeding (if not empty).
Outline
Goal: Detect and reduce ambiguity or missing decision points in the active feature specification and record the clarifications directly in the spec file.
Note: This clarification workflow is expected to run (and be completed) BEFORE invoking /speck:plan. If the user explicitly states they are skipping clarification (e.g., exploratory spike), you may proceed, but must warn that downstream rework risk increases.
Execution steps:
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Extract prerequisite context from the auto-injected comment in the prompt:
<!-- SPECK_PREREQ_CONTEXT
{"MODE":"single-repo","FEATURE_DIR":"/path/to/specs/010-feature","AVAILABLE_DOCS":["specs/010-feature/spec.md"]}
-->
Use FEATURE_DIR and AVAILABLE_DOCS from this JSON.
Fallback: If the comment is not present (VSCode hook bug), run:
speck check-prerequisites --json --paths-only
Parse minimal JSON payload fields: FEATURE_DIR, FEATURE_SPEC.
If JSON parsing fails, abort and instruct user to re-run /speck:specify or verify feature branch environment.
Parse JSON output to extract FEATURE_DIR and FEATURE_SPEC.
IMPORTANT: Do NOT invent or guess CLI paths. Use ONLY the path above.
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Load the current spec file:
- Use Read tool to load spec.md from path in AVAILABLE_DOCS
Perform a structured ambiguity & coverage scan using this taxonomy. For each category, mark status: Clear / Partial / Missing. Produce an internal coverage map used for prioritization (do not output raw map unless no questions will be asked).
Functional Scope & Behavior:
- Core user goals & success criteria
- Explicit out-of-scope declarations
- User roles / personas differentiation
Domain & Data Model:
- Entities, attributes, relationships
- Identity & uniqueness rules
- Lifecycle/state transitions
- Data volume / scale assumptions
Interaction & UX Flow:
- Critical user journeys / sequences
- Error/empty/loading states
- Accessibility or localization notes
Non-Functional Quality Attributes:
- Performance (latency, throughput targets)
- Scalability (horizontal/vertical, limits)
- Reliability & availability (uptime, recovery expectations)
- Observability (logging, metrics, tracing signals)
- Security & privacy (authN/Z, data protection, threat assumptions)
- Compliance / regulatory constraints (if any)
Integration & External Dependencies:
- External services/APIs and failure modes
- Data import/export formats
- Protocol/versioning assumptions
Edge Cases & Failure Handling:
- Negative scenarios
- Rate limiting / throttling
- Conflict resolution (e.g., concurrent edits)
Constraints & Tradeoffs:
- Technical constraints (language, storage, hosting)
- Explicit tradeoffs or rejected alternatives
Terminology & Consistency:
- Canonical glossary terms
- Avoided synonyms / deprecated terms
Completion Signals:
- Acceptance criteria testability
- Measurable Definition of Done style indicators
Misc / Placeholders:
- TODO markers / unresolved decisions
- Ambiguous adjectives ("robust", "intuitive") lacking quantification
For each category with Partial or Missing status, add a candidate question opportunity unless:
- Clarification would not materially change implementation or validation strategy
- Information is better deferred to planning phase (note internally)
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Generate (internally) a prioritized queue of candidate clarification questions (maximum 5). Do NOT output them all at once. Apply these constraints:
- Maximum of 10 total questions across the whole session.
- Each question must be answerable with EITHER:
- A short multiple‑choice selection (2–5 distinct, mutually exclusive options), OR
- A one-word / short‑phrase answer (explicitly constrain: "Answer in <=5 words").
- Only include questions whose answers materially impact architecture, data modeling, task decomposition, test design, UX behavior, operational readiness, or compliance validation.
- Ensure category coverage balance: attempt to cover the highest impact unresolved categories first; avoid asking two low-impact questions when a single high-impact area (e.g., security posture) is unresolved.
- Exclude questions already answered, trivial stylistic preferences, or plan-level execution details (unless blocking correctness).
- Favor clarifications that reduce downstream rework risk or prevent misaligned acceptance tests.
- If more than 5 categories remain unresolved, select the top 5 by (Impact * Uncertainty) heuristic.
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Sequential questioning loop (interactive):
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Present EXACTLY ONE question at a time.
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For multiple‑choice questions:
- Analyze all options and determine the most suitable option based on:
- Best practices for the project type
- Common patterns in similar implementations
- Risk reduction (security, performance, maintainability)
- Alignment with any explicit project goals or constraints visible in the spec
- Format the question output exactly as shown (preserve blank lines between sections):
## Question [N] of 5
**Question:** <The actual question text>
**Recommended:** Option [X] - <reasoning (1-2 sentences explaining why this is the best choice)>
| Option | Description |
|--------|-------------|
| A | <Option A description> |
| B | <Option B description> |
| C | <Option C description> (add D/E as needed up to 5) |
| Short | Provide a different short answer (<=5 words) (Include only if free-form alternative is appropriate) |
You can reply with the option letter (e.g., "A"), accept the recommendation by saying "yes" or "recommended", or provide your own short answer.
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For short‑answer style (no meaningful discrete options):
- Format the question output exactly as shown (preserve blank lines between sections):
## Question [N] of 5
**Question:** <The actual question text>
**Suggested:** <your proposed answer> - <brief reasoning (1-2 sentences)>
Format: Short answer (<=5 words). You can accept the suggestion by saying "yes" or "suggested", or provide your own answer.
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After the user answers:
- If the user replies with "yes", "recommended", or "suggested", use your previously stated recommendation/suggestion as the answer.
- Otherwise, validate the answer maps to one option or fits the <=5 word constraint.
- If ambiguous, ask for a quick disambiguation (count still belongs to same question; do not advance).
- Once satisfactory, record it in working memory (do not yet write to disk) and move to the next queued question.
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Stop asking further questions when:
- All critical ambiguities resolved early (remaining queued items become unnecessary), OR
- User signals completion ("done", "good", "no more"), OR
- You reach 5 asked questions.
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Never reveal future queued questions in advance.
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If no valid questions exist at start, immediately report no critical ambiguities.
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Integration after EACH accepted answer (incremental update approach):
- Maintain in-memory representation of the spec (loaded once at start) plus the raw file contents.
- For the first integrated answer in this session:
- Ensure a
## Clarifications section exists (create it just after the highest-level contextual/overview section per the spec template if missing).
- Under it, create (if not present) a
### Session YYYY-MM-DD subheading for today.
- Append a bullet line immediately after acceptance:
- Q: <question> → A: <final answer>.
- Then immediately apply the clarification to the most appropriate section(s):
- Functional ambiguity → Update or add a bullet in Functional Requirements.
- User interaction / actor distinction → Update User Stories or Actors subsection (if present) with clarified role, constraint, or scenario.
- Data shape / entities → Update Data Model (add fields, types, relationships) preserving ordering; note added constraints succinctly.
- Non-functional constraint → Add/modify measurable criteria in Non-Functional / Quality Attributes section (convert vague adjective to metric or explicit target).
- Edge case / negative flow → Add a new bullet under Edge Cases / Error Handling (or create such subsection if template provides placeholder for it).
- Terminology conflict → Normalize term across spec; retain original only if necessary by adding
(formerly referred to as "X") once.
- If the clarification invalidates an earlier ambiguous statement, replace that statement instead of duplicating; leave no obsolete contradictory text.
- Save the spec file AFTER each integration to minimize risk of context loss (atomic overwrite).
- Preserve formatting: do not reorder unrelated sections; keep heading hierarchy intact.
- Keep each inserted clarification minimal and testable (avoid narrative drift).
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Validation (performed after EACH write plus final pass):
- Clarifications session contains exactly one bullet per accepted answer (no duplicates).
- Total asked (accepted) questions ≤ 5.
- Updated sections contain no lingering vague placeholders the new answer was meant to resolve.
- No contradictory earlier statement remains (scan for now-invalid alternative choices removed).
- Markdown structure valid; only allowed new headings:
## Clarifications, ### Session YYYY-MM-DD.
- Terminology consistency: same canonical term used across all updated sections.
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Write the updated spec back to FEATURE_SPEC.
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Report completion (after questioning loop ends or early termination):
- Number of questions asked & answered.
- Path to updated spec.
- Sections touched (list names).
- Coverage summary table listing each taxonomy category with Status: Resolved (was Partial/Missing and addressed), Deferred (exceeds question quota or better suited for planning), Clear (already sufficient), Outstanding (still Partial/Missing but low impact).
- If any Outstanding or Deferred remain, recommend whether to proceed to
/speck:plan or run /speck:clarify again later post-plan.
- Suggested next command.
Behavior rules:
- If no meaningful ambiguities found (or all potential questions would be low-impact), respond: "No critical ambiguities detected worth formal clarification." and suggest proceeding.
- If spec file missing, instruct user to run
/speck:specify first (do not create a new spec here).
- Never exceed 5 total asked questions (clarification retries for a single question do not count as new questions).
- Avoid speculative tech stack questions unless the absence blocks functional clarity.
- Respect user early termination signals ("stop", "done", "proceed").
- If no questions asked due to full coverage, output a compact coverage summary (all categories Clear) then suggest advancing.
- If quota reached with unresolved high-impact categories remaining, explicitly flag them under Deferred with rationale.
Context for prioritization: $ARGUMENTS