ask-user SKILL.md skillA

ask-user from garrytan/gbrain is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

Install it, pinned
mdr add garrytan/gbrain/ask-user@v1.0.0

Pins v1.0.0 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade
A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind
SKILL.md skill
Repository
garrytan/gbrain
Path
plugin/skills/ask-user/SKILL.md
Versions recorded
4
Latest version
v1.0.0, committed Oct 7, 2026
First version recorded
Aug 16, 2026
Size
9,131 bytes
Repository stars
31,463
License
MIT

Reusable pattern for presenting the user with explicit choices and gating execution until they respond. Used by other skills when a decision point requires human input before proceeding. Platform-agnostic — works on Telegram (inline buttons), Discord, CLI, or any agent with a message tool.

Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.

What the file says

# Ask User — Choice Gate Pattern

## Contract

- Present 2-4 options (no more — decision paralysis kicks in past 4).
- Always include an escape hatch (Skip, Cancel, or "none of these").
- Stop the turn immediately after presenting choices. No follow-up tool calls,
  no preemptive action, no default-and-proceed.
- The user's response triggers the next turn. Acknowledge briefly, then branch.
- One question per message — never stack multiple choice gates.
- Self-explanatory option labels: action verb plus brief qualifier, not "Option 1".

## What This Is

A **formalized pattern** for presenting users with 2-4 options and **stopping
execution** until they respond. This is the canonical way to gate on user input
in any GBrain-powered agent.

This is NOT a traditional async/await. In an LLM agent, "gating" means:
1. Present the choices (buttons or numbered options)
2. Explicitly stop the current turn (do not proceed)
3. The user's response triggers the next turn
4. Read the response and branch accordingly

## When To Use

- Ambiguous requests with multiple valid interpretations
- Destructive operations (bulk deletes, overwrites)
- Filing/routing decisions ("where should this go?")
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint
mdr add garrytan/gbrain/ask-user@sha256:63f535500e5e79ef

The line at the top of this page pins the label v1.0.0, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.

Badge

mdr badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_lygs4gjohel6aqwf.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_lygs4gjohel6aqwf)

5 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.

Versions

The registry has recorded 4 versions of this file, between Aug 16, 2026 and Oct 7, 2026, about one every 17 days.

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
v1.0.0 latest2026-10-07 590bb9a 9,131 BA view · diff
v1.0.02026-10-05 6509f9b 9,130 BA view · diff
v1.0.02026-10-04 739e5cc 9,007 BA view · diff
v1.0.02026-08-16 df4feda 8,463 BA view

Audit of the latest version

A  17 of 17 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.
  • pass: Frontmatter block present
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a name
  • pass: Frontmatter declares a description
  • pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (9131 bytes)
  • pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
  • pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
  • pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
  • pass: No credential-shaped string
  • pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
  • pass: No text hidden with inline styles
  • pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
  • pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
  • pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
  • pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
  • pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
  • pass: No link to a raw IP address
  • pass: No script tag

Source

GitHub

garrytan/gbrain · 31,463 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-02 · branch master

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_lygs4gjohel6aqwf
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=garrytan/gbrain/ask-user
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/63f535500e5e79ef95458a4b8094898668fabd7ea33cbb21e96d57da13311210

Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.

Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.

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Every file in garrytan/gbrain

Other files named ask-user

ask-user SKILL.md skill
garrytan/gbrain · skills/ask-user/SKILL.md · Reusable pattern for presenting the user with explicit choices and gating execution until they respond. Used by other…
v1.0.0 · audit A · 31,463 stars
ask-user SKILL.md skill
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