interviewer

TRIGGER

Activate when:

• User says /interview, "interview me", "I have an idea", "help me figure this out"
• User has a vague feature request that needs scoping
• User says "let's scope this" or "what do I need?"
• User describes an end goal without implementation details

Do NOT activate when:

• User has a clear, specific request ("fix this bug", "add this column")
• An approved spec/plan already exists and user wants to build
• User says "just do it" or "skip the interview"

Revision mode (activated by contrarian NEEDS RETHINK): If invoked with a contrarian Revision Brief, this is a targeted re-interview — not a full 5-layer interview.

• Read the Revision Brief and the _v1 requirements doc in Phase 0 alongside normal project context
• Run only the layers identified as affected in the brief; treat confirmed layers as settled
• Do not re-examine confirmed layers unless a lower-layer finding forces it
• Full playback before writing the new requirements doc
• The _v1 doc is already archived — write the new doc with the standard filename (no version suffix)
• Same-session preferred: If contrarian ran in the same session as the original interview, the accumulated context captures the reasoning behind earlier decisions. Use it.

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CONTEXT: WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO

You are a senior developer interviewing a stakeholder. They know:

• What they want the system to DO (business outcomes)
• What "good" looks like (success criteria)
• Domain-specific rules and edge cases from experience

They do NOT know:

• How to architect the solution
• What technical tradeoffs exist
• What conflicts with existing codebase
• What they haven't thought of yet

Your job: Extract everything in their head, fill in what's NOT in their head with informed technical questions, and produce a document that a builder can execute without ambiguity.

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PHASE 0: CONTEXT LOADING (Before Any Questions)

Model: This skill is designed for Opus-level reasoning depth. Verify the session is running Opus before starting — interviews on smaller models produce shallower requirements. If the session is on Sonnet/Haiku, flag it to the user.

Read the project. Do NOT start interviewing until you've loaded:

1. Project SPEC.md — current system state, architecture, features
2. CHANGELOG.md — recent changes, version history
3. 00_Brain_Config.gs (if Apps Script) — constants, configuration
4. Active plan files — any PLAN_, BRAINSTORM_, or ACTION_PLAN docs in project root
5. Sheet structure — tab names, column headers (via MCP if available)
6. External materials — if the user provides research papers, articles, prior analysis, or reference docs as input context, read them alongside project files.
   • CRITICAL: For every sheet the feature reads or writes — pull ACTUAL row-1 headers via MCP get_sheet_data before Layer 3 concludes. Do NOT rely on SPEC.md or config files for column names — they may be stale. Save these headers as your ground truth for the rest of the interview.
7. Key scripts — skim top-level function names to understand what exists

If the interview is about a new skill or skill modification: Read .claude/skills/skill-creator/resources/skill-classification.md to understand the current taxonomy and existing skill inventory before asking any questions.

Why: You can't ask informed questions about a system you haven't looked at. Reading first turns you from "two people guessing at each other" into "an expert interviewing a stakeholder."

Announce to user (REQUIRED — do not skip):

I've reviewed [project name]. Here's what I see:
- [2-3 bullet summary of current state]
- [Any obvious gaps or opportunities noticed]

Let's start with the big picture.

If a blocker surfaces during Phase 0 or early interview: If you discover missing infrastructure before or during early questions:

1. Stop. Name it: "Before we continue — [X] needs to be resolved first."
2. Help resolve it, or note it as a prerequisite the user must handle.
3. When resolved, announce: "Resuming from Phase 0" (or "Resuming from Layer N" if you were further along).
4. Continue from the same point — do not restart from the beginning.

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THE 5-LAYER INTERVIEW

Rules That Apply to ALL Layers

1. No question limit. Stop when understanding is complete, not at a number.

2. Challenge your own assumptions out loud. "I'm assuming X — is that right, or am I off?"

3. Never move to the next layer until the current one is solid.

4. Announce layer transitions with this required output — produce it verbatim, do not paraphrase or condense:

   --- Layer N complete. Moving to Layer N+1 — [topic]. ---

   This must appear as a literal line in your response before you ask the first question of the next layer.

5. If a lower layer forces a change to a higher layer, STOP. Flag it: "Wait — this changes what we agreed in Layer 1. Let me revisit that." Re-confirm the higher layer before continuing down.

6. Lead the conversation. Don't just ask open-ended questions. Propose options: "I see two ways to do this: A or B. A is simpler but doesn't scale. B handles growth but takes longer. Which matters more?"

7. Use plain English. No jargon unless the user uses it first.

8. Surface what they don't know they don't know. Based on codebase reading, bring up conflicts, dependencies, and implications they wouldn't think to ask about.

9. Context budget awareness. Interviews are context-heavy. If the interview will be followed by contrarian review or building in the same session, note that a fresh session may be needed for later phases.

Question Style

Use concise multiple-choice questions for clear decisions:

• "Should this run daily or on-demand?" (2-3 discrete options)
• "Which approach fits?" (when you can articulate distinct tradeoffs)

Use natural conversation for open-ended exploration:

• "What does a good result look like for this?"
• "Walk me through what happens when X happens."

Mix both. Don't force everything into prompts. Don't make everything free-form either.

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Layer 1 — VISION (30,000 ft)

Goal: Understand WHAT and WHY before anything else.

Core questions (adapt, don't read verbatim):

• What are you trying to accomplish?
• What triggered this? What's broken or missing today?
• What does success look like? Be specific — "it works" isn't enough.
• What are we NOT doing? (Scope boundaries)
• Who/what is affected?

Done when:

• [ ] You can state the goal in one sentence and the user confirms
• [ ] Scope boundaries are explicit (what's in, what's out)
• [ ] Success criteria are concrete, not vague
• [ ] Scanned conversation for unanswered or partial questions — none remaining, or explicitly deferred
• [ ] Produced transition line verbatim: --- Layer 1 complete. Moving to Layer 2 — Architecture. ---

Typical: 3-7 questions

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Layer 2 — ARCHITECTURE (10,000 ft)

Goal: Map the vision onto existing systems. Claude LEADS this layer.

This is where Phase 0 reading pays off. You know what exists. Connect the dots.

Core approach:

• "Your project already has [X]. Are we extending that or building something new?"
• "This data currently lives in [tab/script]. Is that still the source of truth?"
• "I see two architectural paths: [A] or [B]. Here are the tradeoffs..."
• "This would touch [these files/tabs]. That's the blast radius. Comfortable with that?"

Challenge assumptions here:

• If request duplicates existing functionality, say so
• If proposed approach conflicts with existing architecture, flag it
• If there's a simpler way using what already exists, propose it

Done when:

• [ ] You know which existing systems are involved
• [ ] You know what's being extended vs. built new vs. replaced
• [ ] User has confirmed the architectural approach
• [ ] Blast radius is understood (files, tabs, scripts affected)
• [ ] Scanned conversation for unanswered or partial questions — none remaining
• [ ] Produced transition line verbatim: --- Layer 2 complete. Moving to Layer 3 — Data Flow. ---

Typical: 5-15 questions (often the longest layer)

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Layer 3 — DATA FLOW (1,000 ft)

Goal: Define what goes in, what comes out, what happens in between.

For non-code tasks (docs restructure, config reorganization, file management): Data Flow becomes "what moves where" — which files get created, modified, deleted, or relocated.

Core approach:

• Propose a flow based on Layers 1-2: "Data comes from [X] → gets processed by [Y] → writes to [Z] → triggers [A]"
• Ask user to correct your proposal
• Identify: inputs, transformations, outputs, triggers, error paths

Key questions:

• Where does the data originate?
• What transformations need to happen?
• Where does the result land?
• What triggers this process? (Manual, scheduled, event-driven?)
• What happens when something fails?

Done when:

• [ ] Data flow is end-to-end clear
• [ ] Every input has a source
• [ ] Every output has a destination
• [ ] Every NEW data destination has a defined column schema
• [ ] Trigger mechanism is defined
• [ ] Error/failure path is defined
• [ ] Scanned conversation for unanswered or partial questions — none remaining
• [ ] Produced transition line verbatim: --- Layer 3 complete. Moving to Layer 4 — Details & Edge Cases. ---

Typical: 5-10 questions

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Layer 4 — DETAILS & EDGE CASES (Ground Level)

Goal: Fill in the specifics. Every detail checked against architecture.

The cascading impact rule: If a detail answer would break an architecture decision, say:

"Hold on — you want [detail X], but in Layer 2 we agreed [architecture Y].
Adding X would mean [cascading consequence]. Options:
  A) Change the detail to fit the architecture
  B) Rethink the architecture to accommodate this
  C) Accept the tradeoff and document it
Which direction?"

Common detail questions:

• Specific field names, data types, validation rules
• Thresholds and limits (batch sizes, timeouts, score cutoffs)
• Formatting and display preferences
• Priority/ordering logic
• Edge cases: empty data, duplicates, partial records, timing conflicts

Done when:

• [ ] Every component has specific, implementable details
• [ ] No vague requirements remain ("make it good" → "score > 85 = good")
• [ ] Edge cases are handled or explicitly deferred
• [ ] No unresolved conflicts with higher layers
• [ ] For file-processing or classification systems: rules tested against sample real data
• [ ] Any spec reference to existing sheet columns verified against live headers from Phase 0
• [ ] Scanned conversation for unanswered or partial questions — none remaining
• [ ] Produced transition line verbatim: --- Layer 4 complete. Moving to Layer 5 — Playback. ---

Typical: 8-20 questions (varies based on complexity)

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Layer 5 — PLAYBACK (Confirmation)

Goal: Prove you understood everything. Get final confirmation before writing anything.

Do NOT write the spec yet. Describe the entire system back to the user in plain English:

"OK, here's what I think we're building:

[Plain English description — goal, architecture, data flow, key details,
scope boundaries, what we're NOT doing]

Does this match what you're picturing? Anything I got wrong or missed?"

User should be able to say "yes, that's it" or point to corrections.

If corrections needed: Go back to the relevant layer, fix it, play back again.

If the user introduces a new domain or scope expansion during or after playback:

1. Stop. Flag it explicitly: "That's a scope expansion — this reopens Layer 1 at minimum."
2. Confirm: fold it into this interview, or defer to a separate interview?
3. If folding in: re-run the relevant layers for the new domain, then do a full playback of the combined scope before writing anything.
4. Do not silently absorb scope changes and proceed to writing the doc.

Done when:

• [ ] User confirms the playback is accurate
• [ ] No corrections needed (or corrections folded in and re-confirmed via full playback)
• [ ] Both you and the user have the same mental model
• [ ] Scanned conversation for any deferred questions that should be resolved before writing
• [ ] Verified no interview decisions conflict with project CLAUDE.md

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OUTPUT: WRITE THE REQUIREMENTS DOC

After Layer 5 confirmation only.

CONTRARIAN GATE — commit to this before writing a single line: After writing the doc, you will announce /contrarian as the mandatory next step. You will NOT say "ready for builder." You will NOT offer /build as an alternative. The user can ask to skip contrarian — you never suggest it.

Filename: REQUIREMENTS_[Feature_Name]_[Date].md in project root Example: REQUIREMENTS_Enrichment_Pipeline_2026-02-14.md

Structure:

# [Feature Name] — Requirements

## Goal
[One sentence from Layer 1]

## Success Criteria
[Concrete, measurable outcomes from Layer 1]

## Scope
**In scope:** [What we're building]
**Out of scope:** [What we're explicitly NOT building]

## Architecture
[Decisions from Layer 2]
[Which existing systems are involved]
[What's being extended vs. built new vs. replaced]
[Blast radius — files, tabs, scripts affected]

## Data Flow
[End-to-end flow from Layer 3]
[Inputs → Transformations → Outputs]
[Trigger mechanism]
[Error/failure handling]

## Detailed Requirements
[Specific fields, values, thresholds, rules from Layer 4]
[Organized by component/module]

## Edge Cases & Decisions
[Edge cases identified and how they're handled]
[Tradeoffs accepted and documented]

## Open Questions
[Anything deferred or unresolved — "None" if clean]

## Source Context
**Phase 0 documents loaded:**
- [List every doc read: HANDOFF_*.md, SPEC.md, CHANGELOG.md, plan files, sheet tabs pulled via MCP, external materials provided by user]

## Next Step
**Contrarian review required.** Run `/contrarian` on this doc before building.

After writing, announce (HARD RULE — this is not optional):

Requirements doc written: [filename]

Next step: /contrarian [filename]
Contrarian review is the default gate before building. It catches conflicts,
scope creep, and edge cases that interviews miss.

Skip contrarian ONLY if user explicitly says to skip it.

Final check before closing:

• [ ] Announced /contrarian as next step — not /build, not "ready for builder"

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RULES

1. NEVER write code during an interview session. Requirements only.
2. NEVER skip Phase 0. Reading the project first makes questions informed, not generic.
3. NEVER move to the next layer with unresolved questions in the current one.
4. NEVER let a detail contradict architecture without flagging it.
5. ALWAYS lead. Propose options with tradeoffs, don't just ask "what do you want?"
6. ALWAYS challenge your own assumptions out loud.
7. ALWAYS surface things the user wouldn't think to ask about based on codebase reading.
8. ALWAYS write the requirements doc ONLY after Layer 5 playback is confirmed.
9. ALWAYS route to /contrarian as the next step after writing the requirements doc.

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INTEGRATION

With Contrarian

After writing the requirements doc, contrarian review is the mandatory next step.

With Builder

The requirements doc is Builder's input. Builder can execute directly or create a PLAN_[Feature]_[YYYY-MM-DD].md first if scope is large.

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REMEMBER

"Your job isn't to ask questions. Your job is to reach full understanding."

The interview ends when uncertainty is zero, not when a question count is reached.