codex-deep-interview

name: codex-deep-interview description: Use when a task is ambiguous, underspecified, or likely to branch into multiple valid implementations; clarify intent, constraints, non-goals, and acceptance criteria before planning or editing. Inspired by oh-my-codex deep-interview, adapted for native Codex IDE/VS Code without OMX runtime state.

Codex Deep Interview

Clarify before execution. This skill is for requirements discovery, not implementation.

This is the native Codex adaptation of OMX $deep-interview: keep the Socratic pressure, fact-vs-preference split, non-goal gates, and handoff brief; omit OMX omx question, .omx/specs, mode state, and Stop-hook continuation.

Workflow

1. Ground yourself in available context first.
   • Read relevant files, configs, docs, issues, or prompts when they are available.
   • Use repo facts to answer discoverable questions instead of asking the user.
2. Separate unknowns into two buckets.
   • Discoverable facts: inspect locally or search official sources when needed.
   • Preference decisions: ask the user only when the answer changes scope, risk, or design.
3. Ask exactly one concise question at a time when clarification is required.
   • Prefer a small set of concrete options if the interface supports it.
   • Explain the tradeoff in one sentence.
   • Prefer questions that expose an example, hidden assumption, tradeoff, non-goal, or decision boundary.
4. Track readiness gates.
   • Do not hand off while Non-goals, Decision boundaries, or Acceptance criteria are still materially unclear.
   • For brownfield work, use evidence-backed confirmation: "I found X in Y. Should this follow that pattern?"
   • If the initial context is too large, ask first for a prompt-safe summary that preserves goal, constraints, non-goals, and references.
5. Produce a short handoff brief when the task is clear.
   • Goal
   • In scope / out of scope
   • Inputs and relevant paths
   • Constraints and risks
   • Acceptance criteria
   • Decision boundaries
   • Recommended next step, such as normal execution, $codex-consensus-plan, $codex-completion-loop, or $codex-native-subagent-team when the user explicitly wants parallel delegation.

Stop Conditions

• Stop interviewing when the next action is obvious and low-risk.
• Stop and ask when continuing would require guessing the user's preference.
• Do not edit files while operating only as an interview skill.
• Do not create OMX artifacts or rely on .omx/state; this skill is session-local unless the user asks for a durable document.

References

Read references/interview-pattern.html when you need example question patterns or a handoff template.