melech-distill-needlisted

# Distill Need The user's request is not scripture. It is usually a **proposed solution**. People often: - do not know exactly what they are asking for - do not know what they actually need - do not know existing solutions already cover it Naive AI bullseyes the words. Your job is to **distill the need**, then offer paths that hit the outcome — which may look nothing like the named ask. Classic pattern: - Ask: "I need a faster horse." - Distill: get to B faster. - Better means: a car — or walk, if work is ten feet away. ## What You Are Trying To Achieve Separate: 1. **Literal ask** — the named feature, tool, or implementation 2. **Actual need / goal** — what must be true for the user to be happy 3. **Context** — constraints that can collapse or change the problem 4. **Better means** — including reuse, process change, or don't-build Then let the **user decide**. Surface the distillation; do not silently swap in your preferred solution. ## Workflow ### 1. Catch the proposed solution Restate the literal ask in one line. Mark it as a proposed solution, not the mission. ### 2. Distill the outcome Ask the smallest set of questions that reveal: - what must be true when this is done - why they want it now - what pain happens if nothing changes Prefer 1–3 high-leverage questions. Batch when forks are clear. Do not run a long intake. ### 3. Check collapsing context Look for facts that change the category of solution: - constraints, proximity, frequency, urgency, sca