git:20260228.51e6e72 to git:20260327.17e6b46

18 added, 18 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: clarification-strategies

description: "Strategies for auditing specifications and reducing ambiguity. Use when running `/sddp-clarify` or whenever an agent needs to critique a requirement."

---

# Clarification Strategies

## Ambiguity Audit Patterns

- Use these patterns to identify weak requirements in `spec.md`.

+ Patterns to identify weak requirements in `spec.md`:

### 1. The "Adverb Trap"

- **Pattern**: Words like "quickly", "easily", "efficiently", "seamlessly".

- **Critique**: "Define 'quickly'. Is it <200ms? <1s? Define 'easily'. How many clicks?"

- **Goal**: Convert subjective adverbs into measurable metrics.

+ **Pattern**: "quickly", "easily", "efficiently", "seamlessly".

+ **Critique**: "Define 'quickly'. <200ms? <1s? Define 'easily'. How many clicks?"

+ **Goal**: Convert subjective adverbs to measurable metrics.

### 2. The Passive Voice

- **Pattern**: "The user is notified..." or "The data is processed..."

- **Critique**: "WHO notifies the user? Email? SMS? In-app toast? WHAT processes the data? A background job? A synchronous API call?"

- **Goal**: Identify the specific actor and mechanism.

+ **Pattern**: "The user is notified..." / "The data is processed..."

+ **Critique**: "WHO notifies? Email? SMS? Toast? WHAT processes? Background job? Synchronous call?"

+ **Goal**: Identify specific actor and mechanism.

### 3. The "Unspecified Scale"

**Pattern**: "Handle user uploads" without size limits.

- **Critique**: "What is the max file size? What are the allowed file types? What is the expected concurrency?"

- **Goal**: Define boundary constraints for the Plan phase.

+ **Critique**: "Max file size? Allowed types? Expected concurrency?"

+ **Goal**: Define boundary constraints for Plan phase.

### 4. The "Missing Failure Mode"

**Pattern**: "User logs in successfully."

- **Critique**: "What happens if the password is wrong? What if the account is locked? What if the database is down?"

- **Goal**: Ensure error paths are defined in User Scenarios.

+ **Critique**: "Wrong password? Locked account? DB down?"

+ **Goal**: Ensure error paths defined in User Scenarios.

### 5. The "Scope Creep" Detector

- **Pattern**: "Integration with 3rd party providers" (plural) when only one is needed for MVP.

- **Critique**: "Which specific providers are required for V1? Can we limit to just one?"

- **Goal**: Reduce complexity by narrowing scope.

+ **Pattern**: "Integration with 3rd party providers" (plural) when one suffices for MVP.

+ **Critique**: "Which specific providers for V1? Can we limit to one?"

+ **Goal**: Narrow scope, reduce complexity.

## Questioning Protocol

When generating questions:

- 1. **Group by Impact**: Security > Scope > UX > Technical.

- 2. **Propose a Default**: "Should we default to JWT for auth, or do you have a specific requirement?"

- 3. **Limit Volume**: Do not overwhelm the user. Max 8 critical questions at a time.

- 4. **Reference Lines**: Always point to the specific line number in `spec.md` where the ambiguity exists.

+ 1. **Group by Impact**: Security > Scope > UX > Technical.

+ 2. **Propose a Default**: "Should we default to JWT for auth, or do you have a specific requirement?"

+ 3. **Limit Volume**: Max 8 critical questions at a time.

+ 4. **Reference Lines**: Point to specific line in `spec.md` where ambiguity exists.