waynesuttonwaynesutton/builder-skills/skills/what-i-need-from-you/SKILL.md

what-i-need-from-you

Skill404 starsChanged 49 days agoApache-2.0View on GitHub

Ends every agent turn with a clear "What I need from you" section listing concrete actions the user must take, or says "Nothing needed from you right now", and logs every ask by id and session in prds/what-i-need-from-you.md. Use on every turn, especially when blocked on the user, when the next step needs a login, dashboard, key rotation, decision, file, or approval, or when finishing a task, audit, or fix.

1 other project uses a version of this.

Adopted by

Most recently taken up by

waynesutton/convexskillsword for word, first seen Nov 15, 2026

Other versions1 project uses a version of this.
Word for word · 1
waynesutton/convexskills★ 404100% same
Edited · 0
None found.
Wrote their own version · 0
None found.
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
In this repository24 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- templates/AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- avoid-feature-creepSkill
- convex-agentsSkill
- convex-best-practicesSkill
- convex-component-authoringSkill
- convex-cron-jobsSkill
- convex-file-storageSkill
- convex-functionsSkill
- convex-http-actionsSkill
- convex-migrationsSkill
- convex-realtimeSkill
- convex-schema-validatorSkill
- convex-security-auditSkill
- convex-security-checkSkill
- create-prdSkill
- devSkill
- git-safetySkill
- sec-checkSkill
- state-machinesSkill
- think-firstSkill
- update-project-docsSkill
- workflowSkill
- writeSkill

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

10 rules. About 0 are common, 8 are distinctive, and 2 are very specific to this project.

≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈8
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
2
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

Common
Distinctive
Very specific

Distinctive:
If there are several, put the quickest or most blocking one first, and say what you'll get on with in the meantime.
line 12
Distinctive:
If you don't need anything from me, say "Nothing needed from you right now" so I don't have to ask.
line 14
Distinctive:
Never bury a request for me in the middle of a long update.
line 16
Distinctive:
Put the section last in the reply.
line 29
Very specific:
Every turn that uses this skill also updates prds/what-i-need-from-you.md in the project root.
line 45
Distinctive:
Add new asks to the Open table: id, kind, action, where, send back, steps link, date asked.
line 48
Distinctive:
When the user reports one done, or you confirm it, move its row to Done with the date.
line 49
Distinctive:
Add a Session log entry at the top of that section, even when nothing changed:
line 50
Distinctive:
Keep the reply's "What I need from you" list and the Open table in sync, using the same ids.
line 60
Very specific:
If the project also keeps a task file such as task-repos.md, put its "What I need from you" section first in that file and link it to the …
line 64

≈ “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.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.

Files

SKILL.md

What you need from me

End every turn where you're blocked on me, or where the next step needs me, with a short "What I need from you" section. Numbered, one concrete action per item: exactly what to do, where (which site, app, file or person), and what to send back. e.g. "Log into CommBank NetBank and export Jan to Jun 2026 as CSV, then drop it in inbox/", not "I need the bank data".
If there are several, put the quickest or most blocking one first, and say what you'll get on with in the meantime.
If you don't need anything from me, say "Nothing needed from you right now" so I don't have to ask.
Never bury a request for me in the middle of a long update.

Format

**What I need from you**

1. A1 (do): [Action] in [site, app, file, or person], then send back [result].
2. ...

Meanwhile I'll [what you work on while waiting].

Put the section last in the reply. Never ask for a secret value: ask the user to paste it into the dashboard or env var, then confirm it is set.

Kinds of ask

Tag each item with one kind, in the reply and the log:

Kind	Means	Rule
do	The user acts somewhere you cannot (dashboard, login, 2FA, payment page)	Say the exact page and what to send back
decide	A choice only the user can make (keep or archive, which provider)	Offer the options and your pick, ask for one word back
approve	You can do it, but it spends money, deletes data, publishes, or touches prod	Say what it costs or what cannot be undone, then wait for an explicit "yes A4". Auto approve mode or an earlier "go ahead" does not count

Declined is an answer. If the user says no or skips an ask, mark it declined in the log and do not ask again unless something changed. Then say what changed.

Track it in prds/what-i-need-from-you.md

Every turn that uses this skill also updates prds/what-i-need-from-you.md in the project root. Create the prds/ folder and the file if they are missing.

Give each new ask the next id (A1, A2, ...). Never reuse an id, so the user can reply "A3 done".
Add new asks to the Open table: id, kind, action, where, send back, steps link, date asked.
When the user reports one done, or you confirm it, move its row to Done with the date. A declined ask moves to Done too, with "declined" and the reason.
Add a Session log entry at the top of that section, even when nothing changed:

### YYYY-MM-DD H:MM AM/PM: short name of the prompt

* Asked: A9, A10 (or "none new")
* Closed: A2 (or "none")
* Changed: one line on what the turn did

Keep the reply's "What I need from you" list and the Open table in sync, using the same ids.

File layout, in order: title and one line on how to use it, ## Open, ## Done, ## Session log (newest first).

If the project also keeps a task file such as task-repos.md, put its "What I need from you" section first in that file and link it to the log.

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