ask-a-friend

Ask a Friend

When you're stuck and need an outside perspective, use this skill to formulate a clear question for ChatGPT.

When to Use

• Debugging has stalled after multiple failed hypotheses
• The user says they want to ask someone else
• A problem involves platform/tool behavior outside your direct knowledge

Steps

1. Ask permission first — unless the user explicitly invoked this skill, tell the user you're stuck and suggest asking a friend before proceeding. Wait for approval.
2. Summarize the problem — what you're trying to do and the specific symptom
3. List what you've verified — tests run, hypotheses confirmed/eliminated
4. List what you've tried — failed fixes and why they didn't work
5. State the specific question — what you need answered
6. Copy to clipboard — use pbcopy (macOS) to put the formatted question on the clipboard
7. Tell the user — confirm it's on their clipboard and ready to paste

Question Format

Use this structure (adapted to the specific problem):

## Problem: [one-line summary]

### Setup
[Relevant code, configuration, or architecture — keep it minimal but complete]

### Symptom
[What happens vs. what should happen]

### What I've verified
[Bulleted list of tests/checks that passed or confirmed behavior]

### What I've tried (didn't help)
[Numbered list of attempted fixes and why each failed]

### Key facts
[Bullet points of relevant constraints, versions, platform details]

### Question
[The specific question you need answered]

Guidelines

• Be concise — include enough context to reproduce, not the full investigation history
• Include code — show the actual code, not just descriptions of it
• State versions — language/runtime version, OS, relevant tool versions
• Show the matrix — if some scenarios work and others don't, show that clearly (this is often the most useful signal)
• End with a specific question — not "what's wrong?" but a focused question that narrows the problem space
• Language-agnostic — this skill applies to any technology (Python, Java, shell, Docker, CI, infrastructure, etc.)