as-ask

Original：🇺🇸 English

Translated

Structured clarification and requirements gathering through focused dialogue. Use when a task is ambiguous, underspecified, or requires user input before any action can be taken. Do not plan or implement anything—only ask questions to collect the information needed.

2installs

Sourcebuiducnhat/agent-skills

Added on2026-03-31

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add buiducnhat/agent-skills as-ask

SKILL.md Content

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Ask

Purpose

Gather the information needed to proceed with a task through structured, focused dialogue.

This skill is for asking only. Do not plan, implement, or produce any artifacts.

Scope Gate (Required Before Starting)

Use this skill only when:

The task is underspecified — key requirements, constraints, or decisions are missing
User input is required — the task cannot proceed without answers from the user
No assumptions are safe — guessing would risk wasted effort or wrong direction

If the task is clear enough to act on, use

brainstorm

,

write-plan

, or

quick-implement

instead.

Workflow

Step 1: Gather Project Context

Load project context per the shared Context Loading Protocol. Only gather what is relevant to the current task. Skip if no docs exist.

Step 2: Identify Information Gaps

Determine exactly what is missing before a task can proceed:

Objective and user value
Scope boundaries and non-goals
Constraints (technical, UX, performance, timeline)
Success criteria
Key decisions with multiple valid options

Step 3: Ask Questions (One at a Time)

Ask targeted questions sequentially to close each gap.

Rules:

Ask exactly one question per message
Prefer multiple-choice options when practical (2–4 choices)
Use open-ended questions only when no reasonable options exist
Do not ask questions already answered by project documentation
Do not ask about implementation details prematurely
Do not bundle multiple questions into one message

Step 4: Confirm and Hand Off

Once all gaps are closed:

Summarize the collected answers concisely
Confirm with the user that the summary is correct
Recommend the appropriate next skill based on complexity:
- Simple, clear task →
```
quick-implement
```
- Complex or risky task →
```
write-plan
```
- Ambiguous, high-risk, or exploratory →
```
brainstorm
```

Rules

Do not write code or modify any files
Do not produce plans, designs, or implementation artifacts
Do not make assumptions; ask instead
Keep questions short and focused
Apply YAGNI: only ask what is strictly necessary to proceed
Feeds into:
```
brainstorm
```
,
```
write-plan
```
,
```
quick-implement
```