fix(skill): Phase 0.1 must WAIT for API key answer before proceeding

66abf7824b10a873f7028121a0397b29ad1fcd37 · 2026-03-27 15:24:11 -0700 · Matt Van Horn

The skill said "ask permission" but the LLM barreled ahead into Phase 0
research without waiting. Now uses AskUserQuestion with explicit "WAIT
for the user's answer before proceeding" instruction for both token-found
and no-token cases.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Files touched

M skills/printing-press/SKILL.md

Diff

commit 66abf7824b10a873f7028121a0397b29ad1fcd37
Author: Matt Van Horn <455140+mvanhorn@users.noreply.github.com>
Date:   Fri Mar 27 15:24:11 2026 -0700

    fix(skill): Phase 0.1 must WAIT for API key answer before proceeding
    
    The skill said "ask permission" but the LLM barreled ahead into Phase 0
    research without waiting. Now uses AskUserQuestion with explicit "WAIT
    for the user's answer before proceeding" instruction for both token-found
    and no-token cases.
    
    Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 skills/printing-press/SKILL.md | 25 +++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 13 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md b/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md
index e757a363..528134e1 100644
--- a/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md
+++ b/skills/printing-press/SKILL.md
@@ -205,24 +205,25 @@ Before asking the user for anything, silently check if a token is already availa
    - Generic: $API_KEY, $API_TOKEN
 
 2. If a token is found:
-   Tell the user: "I found a [API_NAME] token in your environment ([source]).
-   I'd like to use it for read-only live testing at the end (Phase 5.5).
-   This catches auth mismatches, wrong paths, and parsing bugs before you ship.
+   Use AskUserQuestion to ask:
+   "Found a [API_NAME] token in $[ENV_VAR]. Use it for read-only live testing at the end?"
+   Options:
+   - "Yes, use it" (read-only GETs only, never creates/updates/deletes)
+   - "No, skip live testing" (use dry-run and mock validation only)
 
-   Safety: I will ONLY run GET/list/search operations. I will NEVER create,
-   update, delete, or post anything. OK to use it?"
-
-   If yes (or user says nothing / proceeds): store the token for Phase 5.5
-   If no: skip live testing
+   **WAIT for the user's answer before proceeding.** Do NOT continue to Phase 0 until answered.
 
 3. If no token found:
-   Tell the user: "No API token detected. If you want live testing at the end,
-   you can provide one now (or I'll skip it and use dry-run validation only)."
+   Use AskUserQuestion to ask:
+   "No [API_NAME] token detected. Want to provide one for live testing?"
+   Options:
+   - "I'll set it up" (user will paste or export the token, then you re-check)
+   - "Skip, no live testing" (proceed without, use dry-run validation only)
 
-   Accept token if provided, otherwise skip Phase 5.5.
+   **WAIT for the user's answer before proceeding.** Do NOT continue to Phase 0 until answered.
 ```
 
-The key insight: **detect first, ask permission second.** Don't make the user figure out what you need - find it yourself, explain what you'll do with it (read-only), and ask for a yes/no.
+The key insight: **detect first, ask permission second, WAIT for the answer.** Don't barrel ahead into research while the user is still deciding. The AskUserQuestion tool blocks until they respond.
 
 ## How This Works

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