ask-first SKILL.md skillA
ask-first from mithunwijayasiri/dotclaude is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add mithunwijayasiri/dotclaude/ask-first@git:20261013.0e269cdPins git:20261013.0e269cd in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- mithunwijayasiri/dotclaude
- Path
skills/ask-first/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 2
- Latest version
- git:20261013.0e269cd, committed Oct 13, 2026
- First version recorded
- Oct 4, 2026
- Size
- 3,436 bytes
- Repository stars
- 4
- License
- MIT
Ask the user clarifying questions before acting, instead of filling gaps with guesses. Use when starting to implement a feature, fix a bug, write or change tests, refactor, or plan any change where intent, scope, expected behavior, values, or done-criteria aren't fully stated. Also use mid-task when a new unknown surfaces. Skip for fully-specified asks, pure questions, and read-only lookups.
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 First Goal: shared understanding before code. User knows what I'll build; I know what they want. Guessed gap → wrong work baked in, costs a rework cycle. ## Input - Shape: `<type> - <what needs doing>`, e.g. `bug - after I turn off save history, I cannot turn it on`. Often short or lazy — expected. Fill gaps by reading code, then asking. - Types: bug, feature, improvement, refactor, test, docs. Type picks the gap checklist below. - No type → infer from wording + code. Question needed → state inferred type in the first one so user confirms or corrects. Fully specified → proceed, no type confirmation. - Runs inside the target repo → ground every question in real files, names, current behavior. ## Loop 1. **Read first.** Explore relevant code, config, tickets, logs. Answerable from the code → read, don't ask. Verify claims against code; contradiction → surface it as a question. 2. **Find gaps.** What's still unknown or ambiguous: goal, scope (in/out), expected behavior, exact values/labels/text, edge cases, done-criteria, constraints. 3. **Ask one at a time.** Wait for the answer before the next. Order by dependency — answers that change later questions go first. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add mithunwijayasiri/dotclaude/ask-first@sha256:58c53557fe8f7286The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261013.0e269cd, 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.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_qubwfasybz65qufq)
2 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 2 versions of this file, between Oct 4, 2026 and Oct 13, 2026, about one every 9 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261013.0e269cd latest | 2026-10-13 | 0e269cd | 3,436 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261004.03effb8 | 2026-10-04 | 03effb8 | 2,112 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (3436 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
mithunwijayasiri/dotclaude · 4 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-03 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_qubwfasybz65qufq GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=mithunwijayasiri/dotclaude/ask-first GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/58c53557fe8f728660e1e831dabf2c7650eeb2329b7ddc072a3797abd405bffa
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.