plan-interrogate

plan-interrogate

Drive a plan from sketch to commitment by resolving every open decision before any code is written.

Method

1. Restate the plan in one paragraph. Confirm with the user that this is the plan being interrogated. Do not proceed on a mis-restatement.
2. 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).
3. Resolve in dependency order. A node is ready when every node it depends on is resolved.
4. For each ready open node, ask exactly one question. Keep the question tight and binary or small-multiple-choice when possible.
5. Pair every question with a recommended answer and one sentence of reasoning. The user can confirm, pick a different option, or push back.
6. 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>.
7. 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.