Clarify Intent

Turn a material ambiguity into a user decision while preserving the requested
outcome, constraints, and existing authorization.

Entry And Scope

• using-axiom may select this skill before choosing an action route when a
  request has multiple plausible meanings with different results, scope,
  targets, write surfaces, or authorization boundaries.
• Read the request and relevant conversation first. Inspect readily available
  task evidence when it can settle a factual gap without making the choice.
• Tentative phrases such as "maybe" do not alone require clarification. Keep
  working when the intended result is clear and an ordinary reversible
  implementation choice can be made within the user's constraints.
• Do not use a question to reopen a settled decision or request authorization
  already established for the same action. A permission-bypass mode does not
  resolve an ambiguous intended result.

Ask One Focused Question

1. Name the unresolved decision in one concise, self-contained question.
2. Offer two or three distinct, plausible interpretations grounded in the
   user's words and current context. State the outcome or tradeoff of each;
   do not invent unrelated requirements to fill the choices.
3. Let the user enter a custom answer. Use the host's native question tool
   when available in the current mode and follow its option and free-text
   conventions. If that tool is unavailable, ask in ordinary conversation.
4. Recommend an option only when known user priorities support it and the
   host's question format calls for a recommendation. A default, recommendation,
   silence, elapsed time, or "choose one" is not a submitted decision where
   alternatives change route ownership or action authority.
5. Wait before work that depends on a material choice. Continue authorized
   independent work when useful. Do not poll, repeat the same question, or
   manufacture additional interview rounds.

If there is only one plausible interpretation but a required value is missing,
ask for that value directly instead of manufacturing multiple choices. If the
host requires progress after an unanswered optional question, proceed only
with independent work or an assumption that stays inside established authority.

Resume

Use the user's selected or custom answer to resolve only the open issue.
Preserve unaffected instructions and acceptance criteria. Return the clarified
request to using-axiom for normal route selection; the answer is not blanket
permission for edits, delegation, external actions, or persistent changes.

Do not run a downstream workflow merely because its option was displayed.
When the answer introduces a new material ambiguity, ask only the necessary
follow-up. Otherwise resume the task without restating a questionnaire.

Acceptance Examples