/interview
Interview & refine a spec, task, or spec file in-depth
$ npx -y skills add gmickel/flow-next --agent claude-codeHow it fires
How this command gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.
- Fires itselfClaude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.
- You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
- Slash command
/interview
Context preview
What this command does when you run it.
Interview & refine a spec, task, or spec file in-depth
Command definition
interview.mdname: interview
description: Interview & refine a spec, task, or spec file in-depth
argument-hint: "[spec ID, task ID, or file path] [--scope=business|technical|both | --biz | --tech] [--docs | --no-docs] [--strategy | --no-strategy]"
IMPORTANT: This command MUST invoke the skill `flow-next-interview`
The ONLY purpose of this command is to call the `flow-next-interview` skill. You MUST use that skill now.
**User input:** $ARGUMENTS
Pass the user input to the skill. The skill handles the interview logic.
Optional flags
Scope (added in 1.1.0)
- `--scope=technical` (default) — runs the technical pass only. Writes tech-owned sections (`Architecture & Data Models`, `API Contracts`, `Edge Cases & Constraints`, verifiable acceptance criteria). Preserves any populated business sections byte-for-byte. Reads business sections when present and cites them in the opener; silent when absent. This IS the 1.0.2 single-pass behavior — preserving as default means zero breaking change for solo devs.
- `--scope=business` — runs the business pass only. Writes biz-owned sections (`Goal & Context`, `Boundaries`, `### Motivation` under `## Decision Context`, outcome acceptance criteria). Preserves technical-section bodies byte-for-byte; writes placeholder `*Pending technical-scope interview pass.*` ONLY under empty tech sections. BEFORE drafting biz questions, runs a project-docs investigation (`README.md`, `CHANGELOG.md`, `STRATEGY.md`, `GLOSSARY.md`, `knowledge/decisions/`, `.flow/specs/` index, `docs/`); items resolved by docs land in `## Resolved via Project Docs` and the user is NOT asked about things the project docs already define.
- `--scope=both` — runs the business pass first, then the technical pass in the same skill invocation. Same merge contract applies in each phase; auxiliary sections preserved across both.
- `--biz` — short alias for `--scope=business`.
- `--tech` — short alias for `--scope=technical`.
Conflicting flags (`--biz --tech`, `--scope=business --tech`, `--scope=foo`) error cleanly with an explicit "conflicting scope flags" or "invalid --scope value" message. R-IDs in `## Acceptance Criteria` are append-only across scope passes — never renumbered, never replaced.
Doc-aware (existing)
- `--docs` — force doc-aware mode on. The interview reads the nearest-ancestor `GLOSSARY.md` and `.flow/memory/knowledge/decisions/`, surfaces glossary conflicts, sharpens overloaded terms via `flowctl glossary add`, and writes decision entries via `flowctl memory add --track knowledge --category decisions ...` when the three-criteria gate passes. If no `GLOSSARY.md` exists yet, the first resolved term lazy-creates one at the repo root.
- `--no-docs` — force doc-aware mode off, even when `GLOSSARY.md` or decision entries exist.
- `--strategy` / `--no-strategy` — force the strategy-aware gate independently of `--docs` / `--no-docs`. Without an explicit flag, `--docs` / `--no-docs` cascades to strategy.
Without any doc-aware flag, the mode autodetects: it activates when `GLOSSARY.md` has at least one defined term (`flowctl glossary list --json` reports `total_terms > 0`) OR `.flow/memory/knowledge/decisions/` has at least one entry OR `STRATEGY.md` has populated sections. An empty `# Glossary` husk left behind after the last term is removed does not trip autodetect.
The `--scope` axis is orthogonal to doc-aware — both can be combined freely (e.g., `--scope=business --docs` runs the biz pass with doc-aware behaviors layered on).
Examples:
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth` — default `--scope=technical`, autodetect doc-aware (the 1.0.2 behavior, unchanged)
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --biz` — business pass; project-docs investigation runs first; writes biz sections only, placeholders under empty tech sections
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --scope=both` — biz pass then tech pass in one invocation; tech pass reads biz output as context
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --scope=business --docs` — biz pass with explicit doc-aware mode (glossary + decisions + strategy gates all on)
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --no-docs` — force doc-aware off (scope defaults to technical)
Read more
name: interview description: Interview & refine a spec, task, or spec file in-depth argument-hint: "[spec ID, task ID, or file path] [--scope=business|technical|both | --biz | --tech] [--docs | --no-docs] [--strategy | --no-strategy]"
IMPORTANT: This command MUST invoke the skill `flow-next-interview`
The ONLY purpose of this command is to call the `flow-next-interview` skill. You MUST use that skill now.
**User input:** $ARGUMENTS
Pass the user input to the skill. The skill handles the interview logic.
Optional flags
Scope (added in 1.1.0)
- `--scope=technical` (default) — runs the technical pass only. Writes tech-owned sections (`Architecture & Data Models`, `API Contracts`, `Edge Cases & Constraints`, verifiable acceptance criteria). Preserves any populated business sections byte-for-byte. Reads business sections when present and cites them in the opener; silent when absent. This IS the 1.0.2 single-pass behavior — preserving as default means zero breaking change for solo devs.
- `--scope=business` — runs the business pass only. Writes biz-owned sections (`Goal & Context`, `Boundaries`, `### Motivation` under `## Decision Context`, outcome acceptance criteria). Preserves technical-section bodies byte-for-byte; writes placeholder `*Pending technical-scope interview pass.*` ONLY under empty tech sections. BEFORE drafting biz questions, runs a project-docs investigation (`README.md`, `CHANGELOG.md`, `STRATEGY.md`, `GLOSSARY.md`, `knowledge/decisions/`, `.flow/specs/` index, `docs/`); items resolved by docs land in `## Resolved via Project Docs` and the user is NOT asked about things the project docs already define.
- `--scope=both` — runs the business pass first, then the technical pass in the same skill invocation. Same merge contract applies in each phase; auxiliary sections preserved across both.
- `--biz` — short alias for `--scope=business`.
- `--tech` — short alias for `--scope=technical`.
Conflicting flags (`--biz --tech`, `--scope=business --tech`, `--scope=foo`) error cleanly with an explicit "conflicting scope flags" or "invalid --scope value" message. R-IDs in `## Acceptance Criteria` are append-only across scope passes — never renumbered, never replaced.
Doc-aware (existing)
- `--docs` — force doc-aware mode on. The interview reads the nearest-ancestor `GLOSSARY.md` and `.flow/memory/knowledge/decisions/`, surfaces glossary conflicts, sharpens overloaded terms via `flowctl glossary add`, and writes decision entries via `flowctl memory add --track knowledge --category decisions ...` when the three-criteria gate passes. If no `GLOSSARY.md` exists yet, the first resolved term lazy-creates one at the repo root.
- `--no-docs` — force doc-aware mode off, even when `GLOSSARY.md` or decision entries exist.
- `--strategy` / `--no-strategy` — force the strategy-aware gate independently of `--docs` / `--no-docs`. Without an explicit flag, `--docs` / `--no-docs` cascades to strategy.
Without any doc-aware flag, the mode autodetects: it activates when `GLOSSARY.md` has at least one defined term (`flowctl glossary list --json` reports `total_terms > 0`) OR `.flow/memory/knowledge/decisions/` has at least one entry OR `STRATEGY.md` has populated sections. An empty `# Glossary` husk left behind after the last term is removed does not trip autodetect.
The `--scope` axis is orthogonal to doc-aware — both can be combined freely (e.g., `--scope=business --docs` runs the biz pass with doc-aware behaviors layered on).
Examples:
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth` — default `--scope=technical`, autodetect doc-aware (the 1.0.2 behavior, unchanged)
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --biz` — business pass; project-docs investigation runs first; writes biz sections only, placeholders under empty tech sections
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --scope=both` — biz pass then tech pass in one invocation; tech pass reads biz output as context
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --scope=business --docs` — biz pass with explicit doc-aware mode (glossary + decisions + strategy gates all on)
- `/flow-next:interview fn-1-add-oauth --no-docs` — force doc-aware off (scope defaults to technical)
Repeatable agentic engineering. The workflow layer that turns AI coding agents into a disciplined factory: durable specs, fresh-context workers, adversarial cross-model reviews, receipts. Everything in your repo, zero dependencies. Claude Code · Codex · Cursor · Droid.
Other commands on flow-next.
- /audit
Audit `.flow/memory/` entries against the current codebase — Keep / Update / Consolidate / Replace / Delete / Harden per entry
Open command - /capture
Synthesize the current conversation into a flow-next spec at `.flow/specs/<spec-id>.md` — source-tagged, mandatory read-back, no silent overwrite
Open command - /chart
Decision-map discovery for one oversized/unclear idea before capture - ground, chart a frontier, resolve one decision per invocation, brief for capture
Open command - /guide
Prompt-first router that recommends the smallest sufficient flow-next workflow for the current starting state
Open command - /impl-review
John Carmack-level implementation review via RepoPrompt or Codex
Open command - /land
Cadence-tick autonomous PR babysitter (CI-fix, resolve, converge, merge, close, release)
Open command

