04 / Ask with intent
Give the assistant something concrete.
A useful prompt is a work brief. It names the outcome, supplies relevant context, and explains how completion will be checked. Keep investigation separate from permission to edit when you are still learning how a repository works.
Choose the mode that matches the uncertainty
Use an investigation prompt when the cause is unknown. Ask for the behavior path, likely causes, and a proposed way to distinguish them. Use an implementation prompt once the boundary is understood. Name an existing pattern to follow and say which behavior must remain compatible.
Ask for evidence, then read it
A confident summary is not a substitute for a patch or a command result. Request changed files, executed checks, failures, and remaining uncertainty. For review, ask the assistant to prioritize concrete regressions and explain the input that triggers each one. Avoid prompts that demand a positive verdict regardless of the code.
Investigate why an empty search shows stale results. Trace request state and rendering. Do not edit. Name likely causes with file references. Propose one check that distinguishes those causes.
Implement the agreed empty-search behavior. Reuse the existing request-state helper. Keep the public search API compatible. Run the relevant checks and summarize the diff.
Review this diff for behavioral regressions. Check empty input, stale responses, and failures. For each finding, give a trigger and file reference. State any checks you could not perform.