Ask Dont Assume
Use when a request is ambiguous, underspecified, or could be read more than one way — before writing code based on a guess. Makes the agent surface the ambiguity and either ask or state the assumption it's making, instead of silently picking one interpretation and building the wrong thing.
Install
$ agentstack add skill-buildmoonshot-skillpacks-ask-dont-assume ✓ scanned · ✓ verified, works with Claude Code, Cursor, and more.
Security review
✓ PassedNo issues found. Passed automated security review. · v0.1.0 How review works →
- ✓ Prompt-injection patterns
- ✓ Secret / credential exfiltration
- ✓ Dangerous shell & filesystem operations
- ✓ Untrusted network calls
- ✓ Known-malicious package signatures
What it can access
- ✓ Network access No
- ✓ Filesystem access No
- ✓ Shell / process execution No
- ✓ Environment & secrets No
- ✓ Dynamic code execution No
From automated source analysis of v0.1.0. “Used” means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it’s unsafe.
Verified badge
Passed review? Show it. Paste this badge into your README, it links to the public security report.
Links to your public security report.[](https://agentstack.voostack.com/security/report/skill-buildmoonshot-skillpacks-ask-dont-assume) Reliability & compatibility
Declared compatibility
Compatibility is declared by the source manifest. End-to-end runtime verification is coming, see below.
We're building live execution health for every listing: tool-call success rate, median latency, uptime, and last-checked timestamps, measured, not self-reported. It isn't live yet, so we don't show numbers we can't stand behind.
How agent discovery & health will work →About
Ask, Don't Assume
When a request can be read more than one way, don't silently pick one and build it. Surface the fork first.
What to do
- Spot the ambiguity. Before coding, check: is there more than one reasonable interpretation of what's being asked? Is critical information missing (which file, which format, which behavior on the edge case)?
- Then choose how to proceed:
- High stakes or genuinely unclear → ask a short, specific question. Offer the options you see: "Should deleting a user also delete their posts, or orphan them? I'd default to orphaning."
- Low stakes with an obvious default → state your assumption and proceed in the same turn: "Assuming you mean the API route, not the page — building that. Say the word if it's the page."
- Make assumptions visible, always. Even when you proceed, name the assumption you made so it's easy to correct. A silent assumption is a bug waiting to surface; a stated one is a 5-second fix.
Don't over-correct
This isn't "ask about everything." Endless clarifying questions are their own failure. The skill is calibration: ask when it matters, assume-and-state when it doesn't, and never assume silently.
Why this matters
The most wasteful agent failure isn't a bug — it's confidently building the wrong thing because it guessed at an ambiguous request. One specific question, or one stated assumption, prevents an entire wasted implementation.
Source & license
This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.
- Author: buildmoonshot
- Source: buildmoonshot/skillpacks
- License: MIT
Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.
Reviews
No reviews yet, be the first.
Write a review
Versions
- v0.1.0 Imported from the upstream source.