grill
Calibrated interrogation of a fuzzy idea before it becomes a spec. Asks one question at a time, recommends an answer, and lands each answer in §G (goal) or §C (constraints) — unknowns parked as ? items, never guessed. The cheapest place to kill a bad idea is before §T exists. Triggers when the user has a vague idea, says "grill me", "stress-test this", "challenge my plan", "interview me before I spec", or invokes /ck:grill. Defers the actual write to the spec skill.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/juliusbrussee/cavekit --skill grill- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads grill automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
grill — sharpen idea before spec
One question at a time. Every answer lands in a § or gets parked ?. Never guess a constraint into existence.
Plan-then-execute guesses the fuzzy parts & builds the wrong thing. Grill drags the fuzz into §G/§C before a single §T row exists. A bad assumption caught here costs one question. Caught in §B it costs a bug.
WHEN TO GRILL
- Idea is one sentence & you can feel the holes.
- Multiple readings of the goal exist & you are about to pick one silently.
- Before
/spec newon anything non-trivial. - User asks to be challenged / stress-tested.
Skip for a typo or a one-line fix. Grill scales to uncertainty, ⊥ to ego.
CALIBRATE FIRST
One opening read, not a quiz:
- How well does user know this domain? (sets question depth)
- How locked is the idea? (exploring vs committed)
- Pressure wanted: light / normal / brutal.
Match it. Brutal grilling on a half-formed idea just demoralizes. Light grilling on a committed plan misses the load-bearing flaw.
QUESTION LADDER
Climb in order. Each rung, ask one question, recommend an answer, wait.
- Goal — what must the code do, in one line? (→ §G)
- Done — how do we know it works? name the observable. (→ §C / future §V)
- Boundary — what is explicitly out of scope? (→ §C)
- Lock — what tech/lib/pattern is non-negotiable? what is forbidden? (→ §C)
- Surface — what does the outside world touch — cmd, api, file, env? (→ §I)
- Edge — the one input that breaks the happy path? (→ future §V)
- Unknown — what do we not know yet? (→ park as
?§C bullet)
Stop climbing the moment the spec would be unambiguous. Do not ask all seven by reflex.
ANSWER FORMAT
Each question carries a recommended answer so the user can grunt "yes" & move:
Q: auth — session cookie or JWT? rec: JWT — stateless, you named horizontal scaling as a §C. (a) JWT (b) cookie (c) something else?
HANDOFF
When done, emit a compact block — goal line, constraint bullets, surfaced
unknowns as ? — and hand to the spec skill to write §G/§C. Grill proposes;
spec is the sole mutator. Never write SPEC.md directly.
WHEN TO STOP
Done when ALL hold:
- §G is one line, one reading, zero "or maybe".
- §C covers every non-negotiable the user stated or implied.
- Every blocking unknown is either answered or parked as an explicit
?.
Unresolved blocking unknown that needs the outside world → recommend /research, not a guess.
BOUNDARIES
- ⊥ make product decisions for the user. Recommend, never decide.
- ⊥ write SPEC.md. Hand structured answers to spec.
- ⊥ ask in bulk. One question, one recommendation, wait.
- ⊥ grill a trivial change. Right-size or skip.
FAQ
What does the grill skill do?
Calibrated interrogation of a fuzzy idea before it becomes a spec. Asks one question at a time, recommends an answer, and lands each answer in §G (goal) or §C (constraints) — unknowns parked as ? items, never guessed. The cheapest place to kill a bad idea is before §T exists. Triggers when the user has a vague idea, says "grill me", "stress-test this", "challenge my plan", "interview me before I spec", or invokes /ck:grill. Defers the actual write to the spec skill.
How do I install grill?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/juliusbrussee/cavekit --skill grill in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/grill/ (personal) or .claude/skills/grill/ (project).
Which AI agents can use grill?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is grill safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains grill?
It is published by juliusbrussee in juliusbrussee/cavekit. It has 797 recorded installs.
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