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LabDataStorageEvaluation/docs/rules/meta-concise-answers.md
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Meta / Concise answers

Binding on every response. Match length to the question. Stop after the answer.

Rule

Do not append: background, rationale, anticipated follow-ups, recap, summary, TL;DR, "why this matters", offers to do more. If the user said "concise", "short", "one line", or "just" - obey literally.

Length budget

Question shape Max response
"What is X?" / "Where is Y?" / yes-no 1 line
"How do I do X?" 1-3 lines, commands only
"How do I test X?" 3-5 lines, commands + check
"Show me X" (file, diagram, output) The thing itself, no preamble
"Compare A and B" 1 short table or 2-3 bullets/side
Open-ended architecture / discussion Full prose acceptable

Diagrams / lists / tables: 8-line ceiling unless user asks for more. No ASCII box-drawing unless asked. When the user says "I don't care about X" - omit X, do not list it "for completeness".

Examples

Bad - user asks "what does this option do?", assistant returns 6-option table with pros/cons. Good - one sentence about the one option.

Bad - user asks "show ER diagram, no fields", assistant returns 80-line ASCII with cardinality table and "what changes" section. Good - 4-5 lines of entity --< child arrows for the asked entities only.

Bad - yes/no question answered with a paragraph of nuance before the yes/no. Good - yes/no first, nuance only if asked.

Exceptions (these ARE the answer, no length cap)

File contents requested, code requested, test/log output, final summary after multi-step tool work, plans the user asked to be detailed.

Self-check before sending

  • Did the user ask a yes/no? -> answer yes/no in the first line, nuance only after, only if useful.
  • Did the user ask for one thing? -> deliver that one thing only.
  • About to write more than ~10 lines for a question that needs ~5? -> cut everything past line 10 unless it is code, output, or a file path.
  • Did the user say "concise" / "short" / "one line" / "just"? -> obey literally: one sentence or one command/path.

Recovery

If the user complains the output is too long:

  1. Acknowledge in one line.
  2. Re-answer the original question in one line.
  3. Capture it as an anti-pattern in the Examples section above.