/ask — Query-Driven Knowledge Creation

/ask — Query-Driven Knowledge Creation

Research a question, check if the answer already exists in the knowledge base, and if not, draft a knowledge doc that saves directly to promoted files after user review. Fast path from question to knowledge — no backlog intermediary.

Runtime Gate (per ADR-094)

Canonical resolution: This is the Claude Code variant. When both plugin-claude-code and plugin-claude-cowork are loaded in the same session (most common in Claude Desktop), bare /ask resolves to this skill — aria-knowledge (Code) is the canonical owner of all 24 dual-port skills per ADR-094 §Part 1. The Cowork variant is namespaced-only: /aria-cowork:ask.

Before Step 0: Check that the Bash tool is available in this session. If Bash is NOT available (you are running in Claude Cowork or another non-Code runtime), surface the following notification and wait for explicit user confirmation:

⚠️ Runtime mismatch — you invoked aria-knowledge's /ask from a non-Code runtime.

Behavior is largely the same in both runtimes; for the Cowork-native variant (reads from the attached knowledge folder rather than ~/.claude/aria-knowledge.local.md), use /aria-cowork:ask.

Use /aria-cowork:ask instead? (y / n)

Wait for an explicit reply:

• y / yes — Use the Skill tool to invoke aria-cowork:ask with the same arguments the user provided to this invocation. Do not proceed with this skill's steps; the cowork variant takes over and runs to completion. This is the default-yes path — auto-redirect is the helpful action.
• n / no — Proceed with this (aria-knowledge) variant anyway despite the runtime mismatch. The user has explicitly opted in.
• No response / any other reply — Treat as "do not proceed" and exit cleanly without running either variant.

This gate applies even when mode = auto per ADR-094 §Part 3. Auto mode's "implicit-yes on all gates" rule is suspended for the runtime-mismatch check — auto trusts that the user invoked the correct variant, and this gate enforces that precondition. All other auto-mode gates remain bypassed. The friction cost is now low: on y, the auto-redirect runs the correct variant with the original args.

If Bash is available, proceed to Step 0.

Step 0: Resolve Config

Read ~/.claude/aria-knowledge.local.md and extract knowledge_folder. If the file doesn't exist, stop: "aria-knowledge is not configured. Run /setup to get started."

Use {knowledge_folder} as the base path for all file operations in subsequent steps.

Step 1: Parse Question

The user provides a question as the argument. If no argument is provided, ask: "What would you like to know?"

Extract the core topic and likely tags from the question for use in Step 2.

Step 2: Check Existing Knowledge

Before researching, check if the answer already exists:

1. Resolve aliases first (added 2.16.0): if {knowledge_folder}/aliases.md exists, parse the alias→canonical map and replace any tag token in the question that matches an alias with its canonical form before the index lookup. No notification line needed — this is internal to /ask's coarse check (/context is the surface that surfaces resolution notifications).

   If {knowledge_folder}/index.md exists, extract tags from the (post-alias-resolution) question and check for matching files in both the ## Tag Index section AND the ## Semantic Hints Index section. Tag matching is exact equality (existing behavior); hint matching is substring (case-insensitive, hyphen-normalized) — same rule as /context Step 4. A hint match counts the same as a tag match for partial-match detection. (Added 2.16.0.)

2. Scan headings of files in approaches/, guides/, references/, decisions/ for topic overlap

3. Check intake/ backlogs for pending items on the same topic

If a strong match is found: Present the existing file(s) to the user:

"This may already be covered in [filename]. Want me to load it? Or research fresh?"

• If user says load: read and present the file, done
• If user says research: proceed to Step 3
• If partial match: note it for Step 5 ("related existing doc found — consider updating instead of creating new")

If no match: Proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: Research

Answer the question using available sources:

1. Knowledge base — scan relevant files for partial answers or related context
2. Codebase — if the question relates to the current project, check code, configs, and project docs
3. Web — use WebSearch and WebFetch for external information (APIs, frameworks, best practices)

Synthesize a clear, complete answer. Focus on practical, actionable knowledge — not textbook definitions.

Step 4: Determine Category

Based on the answer content, suggest where it belongs:

Content type	Category	Example
How to do X (proven method)	approaches/	API pagination patterns
How X works (operational)	guides/	Supabase auth setup
What others say about X	references/	Stripe webhook best practices
We chose X because Y	decisions/	Why cursor over offset pagination
X must/must not (principle)	rules/	Rare — usually via /audit-knowledge

Step 5: Draft Knowledge Doc

Write a draft in the standard format for the suggested category:

---
tags: [detected tags from question and answer]
---

# [Title]

**Last updated:** YYYY-MM-DD

[Answer content — structured with sections as appropriate]

## Related
[Links to any existing knowledge files that connect to this topic]

If Step 2 found a partial match, note: "Related: [existing file] — consider whether this should update that file instead of creating a new one."

Step 6: Present for Review

Show the draft with metadata:

## /ask Result

**Question:** [original question]
**Category:** [suggested category]
**File:** [suggested filename in kebab-case]
**Tags:** [detected tags]

[Draft content]

Save to {knowledge_folder}/[category]/[filename]? (yes / edit / change category / reject)

Step 7: Save or Discard

Based on user response:

• "yes" — write the file to the suggested location
• "edit" — user provides edits, then save
• "change category" — user specifies different category/filename, then save
• "update [existing file]" — merge content into the specified existing file instead of creating new
• "reject" — discard, nothing saved

After saving, confirm: "Saved to [path]. Run /index to update the tag index."

Rules

• Check existing first — never create a duplicate when an update would serve better
• Skip backlogs — the user is reviewing in real-time, no need for staging
• Respect copyright — for web-sourced answers, synthesize in your own words. Include source URLs in a References section but don't copy content.
• Practical over theoretical — answers should help future sessions, not read like documentation. "Here's how to do X" over "X is defined as..."
• Tag detection — match question keywords against known tags from index.md. Add new freeform tags if no known tag fits.
• One question, one doc — if the question spans multiple topics, suggest splitting into separate /ask invocations.