Deft Directive Probe

Stress-test a plan before committing to it — relentless interrogation until every branch of the decision tree is resolved.

Legend (from RFC2119): !=MUST, ~=SHOULD, ≉=SHOULD NOT, ⊗=MUST NOT, ?=MAY.

Strategy reference: strategies/probe.md. Probe is adversarial discovery — it assumes the plan has holes and sets out to find them.

When to Use

• ~ Before committing to any significant design decision or architecture choice
• ~ When a plan has been drafted but not yet stress-tested
• ! When the user explicitly asks to be probed or challenged on their plan
• ? Skip when the path forward is unambiguous and small in scope

No-Artifact Guard (active until probe complete)

While probe completion criteria (below) are NOT met:

• ⊗ Write or update any xBRIEF file (xbrief/proposed/, xbrief/active/, plan items, narratives)
• ⊗ Update xbrief/plan.xbrief.json or register probe artifacts
• ⊗ Post GitHub completion comments, close issues, or open PRs on behalf of the probe session
• ⊗ Produce probe output markdown files instead of the canonical xBRIEF contract

! Read existing context and interrogate only — artifacts land in the Output phase after completion.

Waiver (#3556): This skill keeps the no-artifact guard and does not require deft probe-session. The probe strategy names deft probe-session. Silence is not agreement.

Workflow

Step 1: Establish the plan

• ! Read whatever plan, design, or spec exists in the conversation context
• ~ If no plan is in context, ask ONE question: "What's the plan you want me to probe?"
• ~ If codebase context is relevant, explore it to answer what you can before asking
• ⊗ Ask follow-up questions before reading available context

Step 2: Interrogate relentlessly

Walk the decision tree depth-first. For each unresolved branch:

• ! Ask ONE focused question per message
• ! For each question, provide your recommended answer with brief reasoning
• ! If the codebase can answer a question, explore it instead of asking the user
• ~ Follow the thread — if an answer opens new branches, pursue them before moving on
• ⊗ Ask multiple questions at once
• ⊗ Present batched decision lists, numbered option menus, or multi-item checklists in a single turn
• ⊗ Accept vague answers — push back: "What does that mean concretely?"
• ⊗ Move to the next branch before the current one is fully resolved

First-turn contract

! The first user-facing probe turn after loading this skill MUST contain exactly one focused question plus your recommended answer — nothing else that asks the user to decide among multiple items.

• ⊗ Open with a summary of every open branch, a decision matrix, or a list of questions
• ⊗ Batch "here are the areas we need to cover" bullets that substitute for the single-question rule

Question focus areas

• ! Assumptions — "This assumes X is guaranteed — is it?"
• ! Edge cases — "What happens when Y is empty / null / at the limit?"
• ! Dependencies — "This requires Z to exist — what if it doesn't?"
• ! Failure modes — "How does this fail? How is that surfaced to the user?"
• ! Scaling — "Does this hold at 10× the expected volume?"
• ~ Security surface — "Who can reach this? What's the blast radius if it's wrong?"
• ~ Reversibility — "Can this decision be changed later? What's the migration cost?"

Transition criteria (probe complete)

• ! All major decision branches have been resolved
• ! No open assumptions remain
• ~ User has acknowledged the risks of any deliberately deferred decisions
• ~ No new branches are surfaced by the last 2–3 questions

Output (after completion only)

! Before writing output artifacts, follow the Preparatory Guard.

{scope} is the project name from PROJECT-DEFINITION.xbrief.json, or the feature/component name if probing a sub-scope. Use the same value consistently throughout the session.

• ! Produce a xbrief/proposed/YYYY-MM-DD-{scope}-probe.xbrief.json scope xBRIEF with three mandatory narratives:
  • LockedDecisions — what was resolved and why
  • SurfacedRisks — concerns raised, even if not fully resolved
  • DeferredDecisions — explicitly acknowledged items with justification
• ! Each entry includes: question asked, answer given, status (locked / deferred / risk-accepted)
• ! Persist significant decisions as xBRIEF narratives on the relevant plan items
• ⊗ Write probe output to a hand-authored markdown file — use xBRIEF narratives for machine-consumable downstream work

Chaining Gate

After the probe is complete and xbrief/proposed/YYYY-MM-DD-{scope}-probe.xbrief.json is written:

• ! Register artifacts in ./xbrief/plan.xbrief.json (completedStrategies, artifacts)
• ! Return to interview.md Chaining Gate when invoked from the interview flow
• ! Locked decisions, surfaced risks, and deferred decisions MUST flow into subsequent strategies and spec generation
• ⊗ End the session after probe without returning to the chaining gate or the invoking strategy's next-step menu

Standalone context: If invoked from a standalone strategy menu rather than the interview chaining gate, return to the invoking strategy's menu instead.

Anti-Patterns

• ⊗ Accepting "we'll figure it out later" without marking it as explicitly deferred
• ⊗ Asking generic checklist questions instead of following the decision tree
• ⊗ Letting vague answers pass without pushing for concrete specifics
• ⊗ Stopping when the conversation feels comfortable — stop when no new branches emerge
• ⊗ Writing artifacts before transition criteria are met

EXIT

When probe output is written and chaining instructions are delivered, confirm: deft-directive-probe complete -- exiting skill. Return to the invoking strategy's chaining gate or next-step menu.