ask

name: ask description: Send a request to a CCB agent with ask. metadata: short-description: Ask agent

Use this when the user asks you to delegate with CCB, or when project memory says to use CCB ask for collaboration.

Decision Card

Before every ask, decide:

1. Need delegation? If no, answer directly.
2. Result intent:
   • --silence: publish/execute task; success result not needed. Failures, blockers, risks, or required next actions still surface.
   • --compact: result wanted, but only distilled findings/status/risks/blockers/next actions.
   • + --artifact-reply: consultation/analysis/report where full text should be preserved.
   • plain ask: short question or short handoff where inline text is enough.
   • --callback: active CCB parent job + child result required to finish. Combine with --compact or --artifact-reply as needed. Submit, then stop for continuation.
3. Request fidelity:
   • + --artifact-request: exact transient input (logs/output/diffs/copied contents/config/JSON/YAML/table/structured text). Prefer repo paths when the target can read files directly.
   • --artifact-io: request and reply both need artifacts.

Guardrails

• Do not probe --callback; if unsure there is an active parent job, use plain ask.
• If CCB says ask --callback requires an active parent job, retry once with plain ask for user-requested delegation.
• --callback and --silence usually conflict; avoid mixing unless explicit.
• Avoid --silence --artifact-reply; silence means no caller result needed; artifact-reply preserves one.
• Artifact flags are orthogonal to --callback, --silence, and --compact. They preserve content, not dependency shape.
• Automatic spill for text over 4 KiB is a fallback, not the primary rule.
• --artifact-* modes are CCB/daemon managed; targets do not write artifact reply files.
• Plain nested ask from an active CCB task is rejected; use --callback or --silence.
• In A --silence -> B, B still runs an active job. B-to-C depends on whether B needs C's result.
• In callback chains, each waiting hop uses callback; CCB then propagates continuations.
• ask get, pend, watch, and ping are diagnostics-only commands for explicit debugging requests, not normal ask workflow tools.
• Do not manually append output-policy text; ask injects reply guidance.

Always send MESSAGE through the <<'EOF' ... EOF heredoc below. No other form is allowed. Use no flags or insert selected flags before "$TARGET":

command ask "$TARGET" <<'EOF'
$MESSAGE
EOF

command ask --callback --artifact-reply "$TARGET" <<'EOF'
$MESSAGE
EOF

After the command returns, end the turn. Do not wait for a reply, do not run ask get / pend / ping / watch, do not poll. For --callback, report only that delegation was submitted.