mp-grill-me

---
name: mp-grill-me
description: "Use when you want the agent to interview you relentlessly about a plan or design — one question at a time, recommended answer included, walking the decision tree until you've reached shared understanding."
source: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/blob/main/skills/productivity/grill-me/SKILL.md
generated: 2026-05-12T18:05:03.741Z
category: concept
audience: engineers
---

## When to use

- User says 'grill me' or wants their design stress-tested before writing code
- Resolving each branch of a multi-decision plan one dependency at a time
- Sanity-checking ambiguous requirements with the agent acting as a sceptical reviewer
- Lightweight alternative to mp-grill-with-docs when there's no CONTEXT.md / ADR layer yet

## Key concepts

### relentless interview

The agent's job is to interview you until you've reached SHARED understanding — not until you've answered N questions. Stop only when both sides can describe the plan the same way. Vague answers earn follow-ups.

### one question at a time

Ask the questions one at a time. Batching kills the rhythm and lets the user dodge specifics. Wait for the answer, then move on. This is the same discipline as mp-grill-with-docs but without the doc side-effects.

### recommended answer included

For each question, provide your recommended answer. This is the grilling part — you're not interviewing neutrally, you're proposing a stance and letting the user push back or accept.

### walk the design tree

Resolve dependencies between decisions one-by-one — early questions surface trade-offs that change later ones. Don't jump around; walk the branches in dependency order so each question's answer is informed by the previous one.

### explore the codebase instead of asking

If a question can be answered by reading the code, READ THE CODE — don't ask the user. Asking what's already inspectable wastes their time and signals the agent isn't paying attention.

## API reference

```
The full skill body (verbatim)
```

Short skill — the entire body is four sentences. The discipline is in the brevity.

```
Interview me relentlessly about every aspect of this plan until we reach a shared understanding. Walk down each branch of the design tree, resolving dependencies between decisions one-by-one. For each question, provide your recommended answer.

Ask the questions one at a time.

If a question can be answered by exploring the codebase, explore the codebase instead.
```

## Gotchas

- Ask ONE question at a time. Batching kills the grilling rhythm.
- Include your recommended answer with each question — neutrality is not grilling.
- Walk the design tree in dependency order; jumping around makes earlier answers wasted context.
- If a question can be answered by reading the code, read the code — don't ask.
- Lighter than mp-grill-with-docs — no CONTEXT.md / ADR side effects. Use grill-me for early exploration, mp-grill-with-docs once docs are involved.
- Stop when shared understanding is reached, not when N questions have been asked. Sometimes that's 3 questions, sometimes 30.
- Vague user answers earn follow-ups — accepting hand-wavy responses defeats the purpose of grilling.

---
Generated by SkillMake from https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/blob/main/skills/productivity/grill-me/SKILL.md on 2026-05-12T18:05:03.741Z.
Verify against source before relying on details.

File: ~/.claude/skills/mp-grill-me/SKILL.md