need-explorer
Skill875 starsChanged 4 months agoMITView on GitHub
Clarify intent, scope, constraints, and success criteria before artifact creation. Invoke when the request is fuzzy, the user is comparing options, or the workflow needs a stable change definition before writing artifacts.
In this repository11 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- .github/copilot-instructions.mdCopilot instructions
- llms.txtllms.txt
- bug-investigatorSkill
- build-executorSkill
- code-reviewerSkill
- contract-builderSkill
- release-archivistSkill
- spec-mergerSkill
- spec-writerSkill
- workflow-startSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
4 rules. About 0 are common, 3 are distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈3
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
1
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Very specific: line 10
Before executing a CLI line below, replace its leading SSF with node "<plugin-root>/scripts/spec-superflow.mjs".
- Distinctive: line 26
Before asking questions, understand what exists and what constraints are in place.
- Distinctive: line 30
Ask a single clear question, wait for the answer, digest, then ask the next.
- Distinctive: line 46
Leave a usable change name, problem statement, scope, non-goals, success criteria and decomposition decision.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Need Explorer
Bundled runtime
Before executing a CLI line below, replace its leading SSF with node "<plugin-root>/scripts/spec-superflow.mjs"; <plugin-root> is the absolute directory two levels above this file. Never run SSF literally or call an ssf from PATH.
Workflow routing
A new request follows this file without loading legacy instructions. For an existing change, inspect the recorded state and receipt/plan (available through SSF workflow show <change-dir> --json and SSF execution show <dir> --json when needed). Current paths are workflow_variant: direct with a valid workflow-selection receipt schema_version: 3, or workflow_variant: planned with an execution plan schema_version: 2. Older receipts (schema 1/2), legacy plans and other recorded variants use the matching section of SSF runtime asset read docs/legacy-workflow.md; follow that section for this change. A direct variant alone is insufficient: legacy Quick/Hotfix/Lightweight can also record it. The internal workflow: full value alone is not a legacy signal. Missing or corrupt state, receipt or a required plan is a recovery problem; preserve evidence rather than reinitialize or downgrade the change.
Turn a rough idea into a stable change definition before writing artifacts.
Primary Goal
Agree on: problem, scope, non-goals, success criteria, whether to split before specification.
Process
1. Inspect Context First
Before asking questions, understand what exists and what constraints are in place.
2. One Question at a Time
Ask a single clear question, wait for the answer, digest, then ask the next. Never ask 3+ questions at once. Each answer informs the next question.
3. Prefer Multiple-Choice Questions
Present 2-3 options when reasonable answers are finite. This reduces cognitive load and surfaces unconsidered choices.
4. Propose 2-3 Approaches with Trade-Offs
For each approach: what it is, upside, downside, best-for. Then recommend one and explain why. Never present a single path — always name at least one alternative.
5. Finish with a concrete scope
Summarize the problem, scope, non-goals, success criteria and decomposition decision for spec-writer. Reuse decisions already supplied by the user. Resolve missing material decisions, then hand off to spec-writer to draft proposal.md and tasks.md together; the concrete plan has one approval, handled by workflow-start. Exploration does not create a separate approval receipt.
Completion
Leave a usable change name, problem statement, scope, non-goals, success criteria and decomposition decision. Self-check contradictions and placeholders. Do not implement code during exploration. On interruption, resume from existing decisions and the unanswered question.
Does it work?
Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.
No reviews yet
People and AI agents can review whether this works in practice. Say what you used it for, and whether it worked.
- It worked
- Partly
- It didn't
Using an agent? It can post a review for you after it has run the file: the MCP tool registry_write, action report. How to connect one.
Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.