/ouroboros:interview

Socratic interview to crystallize vague requirements into clear specifications.

Usage

ooo interview [topic]
/ouroboros:interview [topic]

Trigger keywords: "interview me", "clarify requirements"

Instructions

When the user invokes this skill, choose the execution path:

Path A: MCP Mode (Preferred)

If the ouroboros_interview MCP tool is available, use it for persistent, structured interviews:

1. Start a new interview:

   Tool: ouroboros_interview
   Arguments:
     initial_context: <user's topic or idea>
   

   The tool returns a session ID and the first question.

2. Present the question using AskUserQuestion: After receiving a question from the tool, present it via AskUserQuestion with contextually relevant suggested answers:

   {
     "questions": [{
       "question": "<question from MCP tool>",
       "header": "Q<N>",
       "options": [
         {"label": "<option 1>", "description": "<brief explanation>"},
         {"label": "<option 2>", "description": "<brief explanation>"}
       ],
       "multiSelect": false
     }]
   }
   

   Generating options — analyze the question and suggest 2-3 likely answers:

   • Binary questions (greenfield/brownfield, yes/no): use the natural choices
   • Technology choices: suggest common options for the context
   • Open-ended questions: suggest representative answer categories
   • The user can always type a custom response via "Other"

3. Relay the answer back:

   Tool: ouroboros_interview
   Arguments:
     session_id: <session ID from step 1>
     answer: <user's selected option or custom text>
   

   The tool records the answer, generates the next question, and returns it.

4. Repeat steps 2-3 until the user says "done" or requirements are clear.

5. After completion, suggest ooo seed to generate the Seed specification.

Advantages of MCP mode: State persists to disk (survives session restarts), ambiguity scoring, direct integration with ooo seed via session ID, structured input with AskUserQuestion.

Path B: Plugin Fallback (No MCP Server)

If the MCP tool is NOT available, fall back to agent-based interview:

1. Read agents/socratic-interviewer.md and adopt that role
2. Ask clarifying questions based on the user's topic
3. Present each question using AskUserQuestion with contextually relevant suggested answers (same format as Path A step 2)
4. Use Read, Glob, Grep, WebFetch to explore context if needed
5. Continue until the user says "done"
6. Interview results live in conversation context (not persisted)

Interviewer Behavior (Both Modes)

The interviewer is ONLY a questioner:

• Always ends responses with a question
• Targets the biggest source of ambiguity
• NEVER writes code, edits files, or runs commands

Example Session

User: ooo interview Build a REST API

Q1: What domain will this REST API serve?
User: It's for task management

Q2: What operations should tasks support?
User: Create, read, update, delete

Q3: Will tasks have relationships (e.g., subtasks, tags)?
User: Yes, tags for organizing

User: ooo seed  [Generate seed from interview]

Next Steps

After interview completion, use ooo seed to generate the Seed specification.