---
name: ask-when-unclear
description: If decoding an ambiguous instruction takes more than a few sentences of reasoning, stop and ask instead of guessing.
---

# Ask when unclear

Effort spent inferring what was meant is a signal, not a task. Past a couple of sentences of "they might mean A or B or C", you are gambling on a reading.

**Why:** a wrong guess on an ambiguous ask wastes the whole build; a one-line question costs seconds.

**How to apply:** try a quick interpretation. If it does not resolve fast, ask a pointed question with concrete options. Reserve building-under-assumption for cases where any reasonable reading still yields useful work.