Session M7-02 lab: Interview a request and revise the decision brief

Duration: 2 hours

Difficulty: Beginner

Prerequisites: Session M7-01 and working GitHub Copilot app access

Deliverable: An approved decision brief and issue proposal produced through a repeatable project skill

What you will learn

Install a repository skill and use it to interview the request owner. Turn the decisions into a brief and issue proposal. When a late constraint arrives, revise the affected decisions and check that both files still agree.

Part	Work	Time
1	Install and check the interview skill	20 min
2	Run the first decision interview	35 min
3	Create the decision brief and issue proposal	25 min
4	Reopen one branch for a late constraint	25 min
5	Check readiness in a fresh session	15 min

Before you start

Complete the track capability setup.

Use the Session M7-01 initiative-context-brief.md. If the trainer is delivering Session M7-02 alone, use starter/vague-request.md.

Check GitHub Copilot access before starting. If access is unavailable, stop. Also stop if Copilot cannot read the training repository or load project skills.

Part 1: Install and check the interview skill (20 minutes)

Copy the supplied project skill into the root of the training repository:

mkdir -p .github/skills/decision-interview
cp sessions/session-m7-02-interview-and-shape-work/lab/starter/.github/skills/decision-interview/SKILL.md \
  .github/skills/decision-interview/SKILL.md
git add .github/skills/decision-interview/SKILL.md
git commit -m "Add decision interview skill"

Open a new GitHub Copilot app session for the project. Open Customize → Skills → Installed and check that decision-interview appears.

Select Interactive mode for the interview. Use Plan only when Copilot proposes file changes. Do not use Autopilot because the request owner must answer each round of questions.

Run a short test:

/decision-interview

Test request: Add a clearer request status.
Ask only the first decision frontier, then stop.

If the skill does not appear:

1. check the file is at .github/skills/decision-interview/SKILL.md;
2. check the skill name and description are present in its frontmatter;
3. reopen the project or start a new session;
4. stop if the project skill still does not load.

Copilot CLI users can run /skills reload and /skills info decision-interview.

Checkpoint: Copilot invokes the supplied skill and returns a numbered first round of questions whose prerequisites are settled, rather than drafting a work item.

Part 2: Run the first decision interview (35 minutes)

Attach the Session M7-01 working brief or starter/vague-request.md, then run:

/decision-interview

Interview me as the request owner. Use only the attached source. Continue until
scope, users, success, failure, ownership, approval, and non-goals are decided or
assigned as open questions.

For each frontier (the decisions whose prerequisites are settled):

1. answer as the request owner;
2. accept, reject, or revise each recommendation;
3. require Copilot to restate the decision and reason;
4. check that dependent questions wait for earlier decisions;
5. ask for the next frontier.

Stop when each branch has a decision or a named open question.

After each round, run /context. Use /compact only if the interview must remain in the same session and context pressure is high. If the interview has drifted, use /clear or /reset, attach the approved context brief, and provide only the decisions the owner has settled and the open questions needed to continue.

Checkpoint: As the request owner, you can state the settled decisions, their reasons, and the open questions without relying on the chat transcript.

Part 3: Create the decision brief and issue proposal (25 minutes)

Ask Copilot to create:

• docs/discovery/decision-brief.md from starter/decision-brief-template.md;
• docs/discovery/issue-proposal.md from starter/issue-proposal-template.md.

Review both changes before accepting them.

The brief must separate:

• facts from the source;
• request-owner decisions;
• unresolved questions and owners;
• in-scope and out-of-scope behavior;
• results that show success or failure;
• approval state.

The issue proposal must trace each acceptance criterion to the approved brief. Do not create the GitHub issue yet.

Commit the first accepted versions.

Part 4: Reopen one branch for a late constraint (25 minutes)

Open starter/late-constraint.md.

Run the skill again:

/decision-interview

Use the approved decision brief and @late-constraint.md. Reopen only the branches
affected by the new constraint. Show which prior decisions remain unchanged.

Answer the new frontier as the request owner. Update the decision brief and issue proposal.

Review the diff:

• unchanged decisions should remain stable;
• changed decisions should include a reason;
• acceptance criteria should reflect the new constraint;
• the issue proposal should contain no decision absent from the brief.

Commit the revision separately.

Checkpoint: Your repository history shows which decisions changed without rewriting the rest of the brief and proposal.

Part 5: Check readiness in a fresh session (15 minutes)

Start a new session with /clear or /reset. Attach only the decision brief and issue proposal.

Ask Copilot to report:

1. the approved outcome and non-goals;
2. each acceptance criterion and its source decision;
3. unresolved questions and owners;
4. any contradiction between the two files;
5. a readiness result: Ready, Revise, or Blocked.

Fix any contradiction and rerun the check.

Then request independent critique:

/rubber-duck Challenge the decision brief and issue proposal. Find unsupported
criteria, hidden scope, missing owners, and conflicts with the late constraint.

If the command is unavailable, stop this step. Use a documented critique option that the trainer has checked. Do not invent a command.

Final deliverable

Submit:

1. the installed decision-interview project skill;
2. the approved decision brief;
3. the aligned issue proposal;
4. any fixes made after the fresh-session check.

Session M7-03 uses the approved brief and issue proposal to create live GitHub issues.

Verification

• The project skill was installed and its invocation passed.
• Questions followed dependency order.
• Owner decisions and reasons are recorded.
• A late constraint reopened only affected branches.
• The brief and issue proposal were revised together.
• A fresh session found no contradiction.
• Any useful critique was applied to the brief or proposal.
• No customer or source organization names appear.