skills/legaldesign/references/method.md

# Method

## Intake is a real pause

Read available context first. Ask only unresolved questions, together, at most three: source/coverage or authority; reader and intended action; reading situation/form or first-use palette setup. Do not ask the user to write the message, choose a chart, or specify geometry. Infer inconsequential choices from the record.

Use a structured input tool only when exposed and permitted; otherwise ask concise questions in chat. **After asking an unanswered intake question, stop and end the turn. Do not draft the composition, generate HTML, or continue production while awaiting the reply.** Resume only when the user answers or explicitly says to skip/proceed. Silence, an empty tool result, and your own proposed default are not consent. An explicit waiver permits stated assumptions, not invented sources or new authority. If intake is already answered, continue without a ceremonial confirmation.

## Brief and ledger

Record the reader's knowledge level and action, descriptive title, purpose, factual message, reading situation, form, design authority, source IDs/statuses, assumptions, and gaps. Account for every material proposition, condition, exception, risk, option, dependency, and next step using stable claim IDs. Assign each to surface, detail, or a specifically justified omission. Convenient geometry never justifies losing an unfavorable point.

## Explanatory completeness

The reader must be able to identify:

1. **Facts:** the actors and supplied circumstances needed to understand the issue.
2. **Question:** the concrete issue this explanation answers.
3. **Qualified answer:** the answer with its material conditions, uncertainty, and limits.
4. **Relationship:** why those facts lead to that answer, or how the relevant options, rights, steps, or quantities relate.
5. **Action:** the supported next step, choice, or unresolved question. Do not invent an owner, deadline, fee, or recommendation.

A **one-pager** contains the complete explanation on its single surface; popups supplement it with reasoning, source context, and item detail. A **slide brief** begins with facts, question, qualified answer, and concise clickable topics before any deep dive. Each topic tells the reader what the linked page explains; the following pages supply the relationship, implications, and action. Do not make the reader visit every page just to discover the overall answer. The exact overview fields and coverage rules are in [build.md](build.md).

The sole statement of a material warning, decisive condition, or required choice belongs on a surface, not only in a popup. Put fuller explanation and source support in purposeful detail. Distinguish a supplied conclusion from a verified source finding throughout.

## One composition plan

For each substantive relationship, record what must be understood, the representation selected, and its literal encoding: order for sequence, alignment for comparison, enclosure for membership, connectors for dependency, or a labelled scale for quantity. A single proposition may need only a sentence. Consider relevant alternatives briefly; do not produce a second design or a rationale for every decorative label.

For directed graphics, state each link as source → relation → target before placing it. Prerequisites point into the outcome they enable; consequences point away from the event that causes them. Independent conditions converge instead of becoming an invented sequence. For a hub, choose its inward/outward direction from this distinction, not from the component's default or the space available.

Choose the least effort for the reader, not the least HTML. If readers would have to reconstruct a supported route, dependency, or scope boundary from interchangeable text cards, expose that relationship directly. Conversely, do not invent sequence, weights, containment, or arrows to justify a graphic. No diagram quota applies.

Plan ordered sections, claim allocation, semantic reading order, and a primary composition. Then use [design.md](design.md) to refine it with suitable house recipes and [copy.md](copy.md) to write the visible text. Keep internal rationale in the working specification, not in client-facing controls.