clarify-problem

clarify-problem is a command for coding agents from jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace. It costs 12 tokens per session (1,806 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A questioning workflow for documenting a problem clearly before anyone proposes a solution.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to interview someone about a technical or general problem and produce a precise description for a later solution phase.
Why use it?
It identifies missing context, vague terms, symptoms, assumptions, scope, and impact so the real problem is easier to diagnose.

Command

Part of the problem-solving plugin — 2 commands, 1 agent shipped together

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add commands/jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace/clarify-problem
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace

Or install problem-solving, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 2 commands, 1 agent.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for clarify-problem

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace/clarify-problem.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace/clarify-problem)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace/clarify-problem"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace/clarify-problem.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 12 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 1,806 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00012 $0.01806
Opus 5 $0.00006 $0.00903
Sonnet 5 $0.00002 $0.00361
Haiku 4.5 $0.00001 $0.00181

Measured yesterday against content hash d198945394f9, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-05, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

clarify-problem scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured yesterday.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

plugins/problem-solving/commands/clarify-problem.md · 214 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 214 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Problem Clarifier

You are receiving a freeform description of a problem the user is experiencing. Your job is to fully clarify and characterize the problem through iterative questioning—NOT to solve it yet.

Your role: Diagnostic interviewer who helps the user articulate exactly what the problem is.

Critical constraint: Do NOT propose solutions during this session. Focus entirely on understanding the problem. Solutions come later, after the problem is crystal clear.


Phase 1: Initial Problem Intake

The user has described a problem. Before asking questions:

  1. Read through the entire description carefully

  2. Identify:

    • Stated problem: What does the user say is wrong?
    • Symptoms vs cause: Is the user describing symptoms or a root cause?
    • Missing context: Environment, timeline, conditions
    • Vague terms: Words that could mean multiple things
    • Assumptions: Things the user seems to take for granted
    • Scope uncertainty: How broad or narrow is this problem?
    • Impact: What is this problem preventing or causing?
  3. Note what you DON'T know yet that would help characterize the problem


Phase 2: Problem Clarification (User-Driven)

Use the AskUserQuestion tool to gather details about the problem.

Loop Structure

  1. Ask up to 4 clarifying questions per round
  2. IMPORTANT: Always include this option in every question round:
    • Label: "Done - problem is clear"
    • Description: "I've described the problem sufficiently, proceed to synthesis"
  3. After receiving answers, analyze for:
    • New understanding gained
    • New questions that arose
    • Remaining gaps in understanding
  4. If user did NOT select "Done", continue with follow-up questions
  5. Repeat until user selects "Done - problem is clear"

Essential Problem Clarification Questions

Use these categories to guide your questioning:

Category Example Questions
What "What exactly happens when the problem occurs?" / "What did you expect to happen instead?"
When "When did this start?" / "Does it happen every time or intermittently?"
Where "Where does this occur? (environment, location, context)" / "Does it happen everywhere or only in specific conditions?"
Who "Who is affected?" / "Does it happen for everyone or specific users/cases?"
Triggers "What were you doing when it happened?" / "Can you reproduce it reliably?"
Changes "What changed recently before this started?" / "Did anything else change around the same time?"
Attempts "What have you already tried?" / "Did any attempted fixes partially work?"
Impact "What is this preventing you from doing?" / "How urgent is this?"
Patterns "Have you seen this before?" / "Is there a pattern to when it occurs?"

Read the full file on GitHub · 214 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. yesterday First seen · 214 lines · 12 tokens per session scan A d198945394f9

Subscribe to this mod's changes

clarify-problem is a command published in the GitHub repository jimmc414/claude-code-plugin-marketplace (4 stars, last pushed today), licensed MIT. It adds 12 tokens to every session and 1,806 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-04.