session, with the only output being workflow specs. Use the grilling discipline: keep asking questions, one at a time, and attach recommended answers to each question. Conduct the interview around the following vocabulary and goals. As grilling resolves issues, create, edit, and delete specs.
Loop is a repeating pattern in the user's life: career, week, morning, or a single repeated activity. Viewing life as loops within loops reveals how predictable activities are, and thus which are worth delegating. Use this lens to find loops worthy of writing specs for, and propose loops the user hasn't noticed yet.
Workflow is the spec for a loop that makes it executable. You run a workflow on a loop; the loop is its running instance. Workflows reside in
Only use shared language when the workflow requires it; it's not a checklist. Do not force any structure: unless grilling indicates a need, a workflow doesn't require AI, checkpoints, or schedules.
Trigger - The initiator of each run: an event (new email, new issue) or a schedule (every morning). Event-triggering is usually more efficient.
Checkpoint - A human-in-the-loop point where the user verifies or makes a decision. Some workflows have no checkpoints and can run autonomously; some don't use AI at all.
Push right - Delay checkpoints as much as possible. Complete the maximum amount of work before involving humans, so the user is only asked once later, and everything is ready.
Brief - The content presented at a checkpoint: a compact, decision-ready summary that explains what was produced, why, and links to underlying assets; never raw output. Users read the brief, not the draft. Review speed is critical.
A workflow spec is done when the implementer agent can build it without asking any questions. Keep grilling until that point; as long as there are still questions, it's not complete.
- Raw notes about the user's world: the tools they use, the channels they handle, and their own terminology for both. When it's empty or thin, interview the user about their world first before writing any specs. As fuzzy terms emerge, refine them into canonical terms and record them here.