Guide the user through a structured elicitation interview to produce a complete, high-quality PROJECT-CONTEXT.md at the repository root.
Prerequisites
Check if PROJECT-CONTEXT.md already exists and contains user content (not just template placeholders). If it contains real content and $ARGUMENTS does not include "refine", ask the user whether they want to:
- •Refine: Keep existing content and fill gaps
- •Replace: Start fresh with a new interview
Interview Protocol
Conduct the interview in phases. Each phase targets one section of PROJECT-CONTEXT.md. Use AskUserQuestion for structured choices and direct conversation for open-ended elicitation.
Ground rules for the interview:
- •Ask one phase at a time; do not dump all questions at once
- •After each answer, probe for specifics: numbers, names, dates, dollar amounts
- •If the user gives a vague answer, rephrase and ask for quantification
- •Accept "TBD" or "unknown" gracefully — note it and move on
- •Reflect back what you heard before moving to the next phase
Phase 1: Problem Statement
Elicit the core problem. Ask:
- •"What problem are you trying to solve?"
- •Probe for quantified impact: "How does this problem manifest today? Can you put numbers to it — frequency, cost, hours lost, error rates?"
- •Probe for scope: "Who is affected? How many users/teams/systems?"
Goal: A 2-4 sentence problem statement with at least one quantified metric.
Phase 2: Domain / Industry
Use AskUserQuestion to offer common domain categories, then refine:
Suggested options:
- •Technology / SaaS
- •Healthcare / Life Sciences
- •Financial Services / FinTech
- •Manufacturing / Supply Chain
- •Government / Public Sector
- •Education
- •Retail / E-Commerce
- •Other (free text)
After selection, probe for sub-domain specificity (e.g., "SaaS Operations — Site Reliability Engineering" not just "Technology").
Phase 3: Stakeholders
Elicit the organizational structure:
- •"Who is sponsoring this project? What's their title?"
- •"Who will do the hands-on work? How is the team structured?"
- •"Who needs to approve deliverables or funding?"
- •"Are there external stakeholders — vendors, regulators, customers?"
Goal: A named list of 3-8 roles with their relationship to the project.
Phase 4: Constraints
Walk through each constraint category explicitly:
- •Budget: "Is there an allocated budget? Even a rough range helps calibrate the ROI analysis."
- •Timeline: "Is there a hard deadline or target duration? What drives it — a contract, a quarter boundary, a regulatory date?"
- •Team size: "How many people are available? Full-time or shared?"
- •Compliance: "Are there regulatory requirements — HIPAA, SOX, PCI DSS, GDPR, FedRAMP, SOC 2?"
- •Technology: "What platforms, languages, or tools are already in use or mandated?"
Accept "TBD" for any of these but note that more specificity produces better artifacts.
Phase 5: Available Data
Ask:
- •"Do you have existing analysis, reports, metrics, or datasets related to this problem?"
- •"Any prior attempts to solve it? What happened?"
- •Probe for data format and access: "Can you share exports, dashboards, or documentation?"
Phase 6: Desired Outcomes
Ask:
- •"What does success look like when this project is done?"
- •Probe for quantification: "Can you express that as measurable targets? e.g., reduce X from Y to Z, achieve N% improvement"
- •"What's the minimum viable outcome vs. the ideal outcome?"
Goal: 3-5 measurable success criteria with baseline and target values.
Phase 7: Additional Context
Open-ended wrap-up:
- •"Is there anything else I should know — organizational culture, politics, technical debt, dependencies on other projects, lessons from past failures?"
- •"Any specific risks or concerns you're already aware of?"
Synthesis
After all phases, assemble the complete PROJECT-CONTEXT.md:
- •Draft the document using the user's exact words where possible
- •Present a summary back to the user: "Here's what I captured — does this accurately reflect your project?"
- •Allow the user to correct or add detail
- •Write the final
PROJECT-CONTEXT.md
Output
Write PROJECT-CONTEXT.md at the repository root with these sections populated:
# Project Context ## Problem Statement [Synthesized from Phase 1] ## Domain / Industry [From Phase 2] ## Stakeholders [From Phase 3 — bulleted list with roles and responsibilities] ## Constraints - **Budget**: [From Phase 4] - **Timeline**: [From Phase 4] - **Team size**: [From Phase 4] - **Compliance**: [From Phase 4] - **Technology**: [From Phase 4] ## Available Data [From Phase 5] ## Desired Outcomes [From Phase 6 — bulleted list with quantified targets] ## Additional Context [From Phase 7]
Quality Criteria
- • Problem statement includes at least one quantified metric (or explicit "TBD")
- • Domain is specific to sub-domain level, not just top-level industry
- • 3+ stakeholder roles identified
- • All 5 constraint categories addressed (even if "TBD")
- • Desired outcomes include measurable targets
- • User confirmed accuracy before final write