If unsure, ask. Never guess. — AI Agent Pre-Execution Checklist - Research - Hugging Face Forums

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If unsure, ask. Never guess. — AI Agent Pre-Execution Checklist

Research

Jang-woo

June 9, 2026, 5:18am

If unsure, ask. Never guess.

AI Agent Pre-Execution Checklist

Humans give incomplete instructions.

AI tries to interpret them as if they were complete.

That is where the problem begins.

If an agent executes while required information remains unverified, the result is not simply a model error — it is a pre-execution confirmation failure. Many vibe coding mistakes are not due to lack of coding ability, but because the necessary questions were never asked before execution.

AI does not reliably know what it does not know. That is why a simple recommendation is not enough. What is needed is a structural enforcement logic — a checklist that must be verified before any action is taken.

This document proposes a way to control AI execution through rules, not code. Implementation may vary, but the core principle is this: declare the rules, and let AI follow them — instead of hardcoding behavior.

This document defines principles and structure. How they are applied depends on each system, organization, and regulatory body’s own policies and agreements.

Core Structure (Fixed Checklist)

Item<br>Description

C1<br>When / Case<br>When, or under what condition, should this Action be executed?

C2<br>User Action Name<br>What does the user call this Action? (intent)

C3<br>Provider Action Name<br>The Action name actually invoked by the system

Checklist Layers

Fixed Checklist — Minimum required items common to all Actions; defines the execution unit

Provider Checklist — A list of execution precautions defined by the Provider for each Action

User Checklist — Rules and guidelines specified by the user

Core principle: If any unknown remains, do not proceed. Always ask the user or place execution on hold.

Two Fundamental Problems

Instruction gap — The user’s instruction is incomplete, and AI fills in the blanks through inference.

Action definition gap — AI processes a new Action, API, device, tool, or workflow as if it understands it, when it actually does not.

Overall Structure

Before execution, a Checklist is constructed based on the Provider’s standards and the User’s judgment. At execution time, AI verifies the Checklist.

Both Provider and User can write precautions and rules in natural language. AI then structures them into JSON — not to hardcode execution rules, but to record and verify what must be confirmed before execution.

This means that instead of modifying code every time a new Action appears, you simply add or update a natural language Checklist.

The basic unit of execution in this framework is the Action, not the tool. A single tool can have multiple Actions, and each Action may carry different precautions. Therefore, Checklists must be written per Action, not per tool.

Fixed Checklist

These are the minimum items required for every Action. In most cases, C1, C2, and C3 are filled automatically the moment the user gives an instruction.

Item<br>Question<br>Answered by<br>Description

C1<br>When / Case<br>When, or in which case, is this Action valid?<br>User<br>The same Action can mean something entirely different depending on context. Clarify whether this is an immediate command, conditional execution, scheduled execution, event-triggered execution, or a recurring rule.

C2<br>User Action Name<br>What does the user call this Action?<br>User<br>Captures the user’s real intent and context. Not a technical name — the name as the user actually understands it.

C3<br>Provider Action Name<br>What does the Provider define this Action as?<br>Provider / System<br>The technical Action name that the system actually invokes.

The execution unit is not determined by Provider Action Name alone. Even for the same Action, the execution unit is only defined when all three are specified together: when it executes (C1), what the user means by it (C2), and what the system calls (C3).

Provider Action Name determines what is called. But the execution unit is defined by C1 + C2 + C3 together.

Provider Checklist

The Provider Checklist is the list of execution precautions the Provider has defined for an Action — the action’s instruction manual. It can be placed anywhere AI can read at execution time.

When required items are missing, questions of accountability arise.

A Checklist can include not only technical questions but also items covering safety, ethics, law, organizational policy, and industry standards. This is especially important for new Actions, physical Actions, irreversible Actions, and Actions requiring legal or ethical judgment.

AI cannot directly observe reality. Any value in the Provider Checklist that cannot be...