Ask User — Choice Gate Pattern

Contract

• Present 2-4 options (no more — decision paralysis kicks in past 4).
• Always include an escape hatch (Skip, Cancel, or "none of these").
• Stop the turn immediately after presenting choices. No follow-up tool calls, no preemptive action, no default-and-proceed.
• The user's response triggers the next turn. Acknowledge briefly, then branch.
• One question per message — never stack multiple choice gates.
• Self-explanatory option labels: action verb plus brief qualifier, not "Option 1".

What This Is

A formalized pattern for presenting users with 2-4 options and stopping execution until they respond. This is the canonical way to gate on user input in any GBrain-powered agent.

This is NOT a traditional async/await. In an LLM agent, "gating" means:

1. Present the choices (buttons or numbered options)
2. Explicitly stop the current turn (do not proceed)
3. The user's response triggers the next turn
4. Read the response and branch accordingly

When To Use

• Ambiguous requests with multiple valid interpretations
• Destructive operations (bulk deletes, overwrites)
• Filing/routing decisions ("where should this go?")
• Prio…