Grill With Docs

grill-with-docs

Challenge the user's plan against the project's existing language and decisions. Sharpen fuzzy terms. Capture what crystallizes — CONTEXT.md for shared language, docs/adr/* for hard-to-reverse decisions — as it happens, not at the end.

1. Anchor on a plan

Open with: "What plan are we stress-testing?"

The plan can be a PRD path, an issue, a sketch in the conversation, or a verbal description. If the user has nothing concrete, recommend running write-a-prd first — grilling without an artifact tends to wander.

Identify the outcome of the session up front: by the end, the plan should be concrete enough to feed into prd-to-issues (break into work) or improve-codebase-architecture (find deepening targets).

2. Pre-flight: read the project's language

Before the first question, scan for:

• CONTEXT.md at the repo root → single context
• CONTEXT-MAP.md at the root → multi-context; read it to find each CONTEXT.md and its docs/adr/
• docs/adr/*.md → existing decisions

Create files lazily — only when the first term resolves or the first ADR is needed. Don't pre-create empty scaffolding.

If CONTEXT-MAP.md exists, infer which context the current plan touches. Ask if unclear.

3. The grill

One question at a time. Wait for the answer before continuing. For each question, give your recommended answer. If a question can be answered by reading the codebase, read the codebase — don't ask the user.

Apply four sharpening modes as the conversation unfolds:

• Challenge against the glossary. Term conflicts with CONTEXT.md? Surface immediately: "Your glossary defines 'cancellation' as X but you mean Y — which is it?"
• Sharpen fuzzy language. Vague or overloaded? Propose a precise canonical term: "You're saying 'account' — Customer or User? Different things."
• Stress-test with scenarios. Domain relationships hand-waved? Invent edge-case scenarios that force precision about boundaries.
• Cross-reference code. User states how something works? Verify in code. If they disagree, surface it: "Your code cancels whole Orders, but you said partial cancellation is possible — which is right?"

4. Capture inline (don't batch)

• Term resolved → update CONTEXT.md now. Format in [CONTEXT-FORMAT.md](CONTEXT-FORMAT.md). Domain terms only — no implementation details.
• Hard-to-reverse decision crystallizes → draft an ADR now. Format in [ADR-FORMAT.md](ADR-FORMAT.md). Threshold below — strict.

ADR threshold

Offer an ADR only when all three are true:

1. Hard to reverse — meaningful cost to change later.
2. Surprising without context — a future reader would wonder "why on earth?".
3. Real trade-off — there were genuine alternatives and you picked one for specific reasons.

If any is missing, skip. Most decisions don't need an ADR.

5. Stop conditions

End the session when any holds:

• User signals done.
• Every open branch of the design tree has at most a one-sentence answer.
• No remaining terms in the plan conflict with CONTEXT.md.
• The user's stated model matches the code (no surprises remaining).
• The plan is concrete enough to feed into prd-to-issues or improve-codebase-architecture without further interrogation.

6. Close with a summary

Always end with this block — even if the session was short — so the user knows what to review and commit:

=== Session summary ===

CONTEXT.md changes:
  - 
  - …

ADRs:
  - : 
  - …

Open questions:
  -  (stopped because )

Next step:
  - 

If nothing changed, say so — don't fabricate updates.

Hard rules

• One question at a time. Wait for the user.
• Codebase question? Read the codebase, don't ask.
• Don't couple CONTEXT.md to implementation details.
• Don't batch updates — capture as decisions crystallize.
• Be opinionated when picking among synonyms; list rejected aliases under "Avoid" in CONTEXT.md.

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: belchman
• Source: belchman/claude-skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.