Native treats “the user owns the outcome; the capable model owns the method” as a hard boundary. Fewer phases do not justify vague requirements, and repository conventions or library defaults do not count as user authorization.
What the user must decide
An unresolved branch is a user decision when it changes:
- user-visible output, defaults, or errors;
- compatibility, scope, or accepted risk;
- deletion, migration, or another irreversible result;
- the observable boundary behavior of a new capability.
Internal structure, library choice, algorithms, and test organization are model choices when they preserve those outcomes.
How Native orders questions
Shape expresses important actions as input→output or trigger→result examples, then checks defaults, boundaries, failure paths, and compatibility. If one counterexample distinguishes two reasonable interpretations, shared understanding is not complete.
When several questions exist, Native does not send a fixed questionnaire. It first identifies each question’s prerequisite decisions and required repository facts. The default sequential mode asks one upstream question per round. batch mode asks every question whose prerequisites are settled and that does not depend on another question in the same round. Every question includes:
- Question: the observable behavior the user must determine;
- Recommendation: a proposal based on goals and tradeoffs;
- Impact: how each option changes the result.
The question remains a [blocking] item in brief.md. Before the answer, the model may inspect the repository or create a change, but it cannot turn an option into settled specification, modify the project implementation, or enter Build.
When confirmation is unnecessary
Shared understanding exists when there are no more currently answerable questions and another capable model, without the current chat, can implement and verify the change from the brief, complete target specifications, repository facts, and project rules. Sequential mode then continues without a ceremonial confirmation question. Batch mode first presents one final shared-understanding summary and enters Build only after the user explicitly confirms it.
--confirmed records that the user has just answered a previously blocking question. The initial feature request is not automatically such a confirmation, and approval cannot be bypassed by editing state.
“Preserve existing behavior” protects existing outcomes; it does not define the semantics of a new behavior. Adjacent code, dependency defaults, and minimal-diff reasoning can support a recommendation, but cannot replace the user’s answer.
