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Agent skill

Ask Then Build

by davidondrej in davidondrej/skills

Clarify a feature, change, or refactor through questions, then write a build prompt for another agent.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Ask Then Build

skills CLI
$ npx skills add davidondrej/skills --skill ask-then-build -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install davidondrej/skills ask-then-build --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/davidondrej/skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-and-docs/ask-then-build .claude/skills/ask-then-build && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
ask-then-build
GitHub stars
4.1k
Token cost
~558 tokens
SKILL.md length
320 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
51
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Clarify a feature, change, or refactor through questions, then write a build prompt for another agent.

  • Works in 2 steps: Questions → Prompt
  • /ask-then-build
  • SKILL.md covers Phase 1 — Questions, Phase 2 — Prompt and Style
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Ask Then Build is an agent skill from davidondrej/skills. Clarify a feature, change, or refactor through questions, then write a build prompt for another agent. Use for /ask-then-build or requests to ask questions before producing an implementation prompt.

Its SKILL.md is about 560 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Development. The repository describes itself as: access to david ondrej's personal agent skills. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • /ask-then-build
  • Requests to ask questions before producing an implementation prompt

Example prompts

  • “/ask-then-build”

Workflow steps

2 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Questions
  2. Prompt

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7874889. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Ask Then Build loads about 558 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 53 tokens; SKILL.md has 320 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~53
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~558

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from davidondrej/skills at commit 7874889, republished under its MIT licence (© davidondrej). 320 words, ~558 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/ask-then-build/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
ask-then-build
description
Clarify a feature, change, or refactor through questions, then write a build prompt for another agent. Use for /ask-then-build or requests to ask questions before producing an implementation prompt.

Turn a feature idea into a build prompt for another agent, in two phases.

Phase 1 — Questions

  1. Identify the 3-6 most non-obvious open questions about the feature or change: edge cases, where it lives in the UI, failure behavior, scope boundaries, how it interacts with existing rules.

  2. Ask them ONE at a time. For each: the question, top options A-D, your preferred pick with a one-line reason. Then stop and wait. Use this exact layout. Put a blank line between EVERY block. Markdown renderers (bb included) collapse single newlines into one paragraph, so options written back-to-back render as one run-on blob.

    Question title?

    One line of context, if needed.

    A. First option.

    B. Second option.

    C. Third option.

    D. Fourth option.

    My pick: A. One-line reason.

    Never number questions as "1 of N" unless you truly know N. If the count is open, keep it open and keep asking until you have the context you need.

  3. When the user answers, record the decision immediately — update the repo's docs (product requirements, ADR, or README) if the project has them.

  4. If the user overrides an earlier documented decision, update the docs right away and say what was superseded.

Phase 2 — Prompt

After the last answer, deliver ONE concise paragraph prompt for another agent. It must include, in this order:

  1. Read-first files: the authoritative docs (AGENTS.md, requirements, ADRs).
  2. What to build: numbered implementation steps, concrete file-level where useful.
  3. How to validate: build, lint, and a manual check with real data.
  4. Rules: don't commit, report back with files changed.

Style

  • Very concise, plain English, short sentences.
  • Never bundle questions. Never write the prompt before all answers are in.
  • Never put two options on one line. Always a blank line between A, B, C, D and before "My pick".
  • Keep the prompt to a single paragraph — if it needs two, the scope is too big; say so.

© davidondrej, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/thinking-and-docs/ask-then-build of davidondrej/skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7874889

Compare with similar skills

Ask Then Build next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Ask Then Build compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Ask Then Build this skilldavidondrej/skills4.1k—~558Automated safety check: PassMIT
Vercel Composition Patternssupabase/supabase111k58 repos~726Automated safety check: PassMIT
Finishing a Development Branchobra/superpowers297k5 repos~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Typescript Advanced Typesrolling-scopes/rsschool-app10k25 repos~4.2kAutomated safety check: PassMPL-2.0
PR Babysitteropeninterpreter/openinterpreter69k3 repos~4.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Code Review ChecklistshareAI-lab/learn-claude-code78k4 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Ask Then Build

What does Ask Then Build do?

Clarify a feature, change, or refactor through questions, then write a build prompt for another agent. Ask Then Build is an agent skill from davidondrej/skills. Clarify a feature, change, or refactor through questions, then write a build prompt for another agent.

When should I use Ask Then Build?

Ask Then Build fits situations like: /ask-then-build; requests to ask questions before producing an implementation prompt.

How do I install Ask Then Build in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add davidondrej/skills --skill ask-then-build -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/thinking-and-docs/ask-then-build in davidondrej/skills) into .claude/skills/ask-then-build in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Ask Then Build in Codex?

Run `npx skills add davidondrej/skills --skill ask-then-build -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/thinking-and-docs/ask-then-build in davidondrej/skills) into .agents/skills/ask-then-build in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Ask Then Build in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add davidondrej/skills --skill ask-then-build -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/ask-then-build, .gemini/skills/ask-then-build, .github/skills/ask-then-build and .opencode/skills/ask-then-build in your project.

What does Ask Then Build need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Ask Then Build is instructions for the agent only.

Does Ask Then Build access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Ask Then Build safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Ask Then Build use?

Ask Then Build is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Ask Then Build use?

About 558 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Ask Then Build?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Ask Then Build: Vercel Composition Patterns (supabase/supabase, 111k stars), Finishing a Development Branch (obra/superpowers, 297k stars), Typescript Advanced Types (rolling-scopes/rsschool-app, 10k stars) and PR Babysitter (openinterpreter/openinterpreter, 69k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Ask Then Build?

davidondrej (a GitHub user) maintains it in davidondrej/skills, which has 4,112 GitHub stars. The repository holds 51 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 8, 2026.

Source: davidondrej/skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.