Writing specifications
Clarifying questions
Why Plan mode asks first, and how your answers change the module you get.
In Plan mode, SiliCode reads your description and comes back with a short list of the decisions it would otherwise make on your behalf. Answering them takes under a minute and usually saves a whole round of review.
What it asks about
The questions target genuine ambiguity in your text, not trivia. Typically that means:
- Reset style: synchronous or asynchronous, active high or low.
- Port widths and which values should become parameters.
- Behaviour at the boundaries: full, empty, overflow, an invalid request.
- Whether outputs are registered, and the latency you expect.
- Clock domains, when more than one is implied.
If your description already answers everything it needed, no questions are asked and the run starts immediately.
Every question comes with a recommendation
Each question shows the answer SiliCode would assume if you said nothing. Use this under a recommendation drops it into the answer box, where you can edit it or replace it; Use all at the top does that for every question still unanswered. When you are done, Continue starts the run with your answers folded into the specification.
Note
The recommendation is always shown as text you can read and change. That is the point: an invisible "decide for me" button tells you nothing about what was decided, and you find out only when you review the module.
Answering well
- Short is fine. Active-low, synchronous is a complete answer.
- Say why if it matters. "Async, because the rest of the chip resets that way" carries information the plain answer does not.
- Add things nobody asked about. Anything you type is used, so a question about widths is a fine place to mention that you also need registered outputs.
- Leaving one blank is allowed. Unanswered questions fall back to the recommendation.
Getting there without the questions
| Situation | What happens |
|---|---|
| Agent mode | No questions. The agent resolves ambiguity itself as it works. |
| Project mode | No questions. It reads your files to answer them instead. |
| Plan mode with a complete spec | No questions, because there was nothing left to ask. |
| A follow-up in an existing chat | No questions. The earlier turns already carry the answers. |