--- name: answer-question description: Evidence-grounded drafted answers to one-off application-form or screening questions — reuses persisted `screening_answers` first, grounds new answers in profile/honesty/evidence, and never fabricates (the unanswerable case is the literal `NEEDS YOU` marker, never a guess). Durable disclosure-style answers (work authorization, sponsorship, relocation, notice period, clearance status, start date) persist back to candidate form defaults `screening_answers` so they're never re-asked; job-specific answers are never persisted. Capability = local files only — no browser, no submission. --- # answer-question > **Runs under AGENTS.md.** These contracts bind without being restated here: the Privacy Invariant (`current_base` never outbound), the Honesty Firewall (never fabricate an answer — the unanswerable case is the literal `NEEDS YOU` marker, not a guess), the Placeholder/Bracket Ban, the Domain-Neutral Rule, Activity Pulse logging, and Tracker verify+snapshot (only when a tracked application's answers artifact gets stamped). Inline reminders at point-of-use are intentional; standalone restatements point back to the relevant AGENTS.md section. ## Boundary — when this runs Use this skill for one-off pasted application-form or screening question(s), optionally with company/role context — typically via the `/answer` page through the embedded runtime, or conversationally mid-session. During a full tailor/apply run, `tailor-application` STEP 6 ("Form questions — fetch the real list, answer every one") owns the answers artifact end to end; this skill exists for "an extra question came up" outside that flow — a recruiter forwards a supplemental question, a portal surfaces one after submission, or the user is simply curious how to answer something. **No STEP-0 gate check.** Every apply-surface skill (`apply-job`, `tailor-application`) opens on a gate/limits check because it can submit, upload, or advance an application. This skill never does any of that — it only drafts text. The user pursuing the question at all already implies the pursue decision was made elsewhere (by `evaluate-job` or by the user directly); re-gating here is friction with no protective purpose. If the input names a company/role that maps to a tracked `applications[]` row, load its JD sidecar (`workspace/jobs/.md`) and any tailored artifacts (`workspace/tailored/ — .md`, `… — answers.md`) as grounding context before drafting. ## STEP 1 — Parse the input Extract the question text (one question, or several) and, if present, the company/role context. Normalize each question for matching: trim whitespace, lowercase, drop leading numbering/"Q:" labels, collapse to the distinguishing fragment. ## STEP 2 — screening_answers first Read candidate form defaults `screening_answers` through the shared DB-first config accessor — plus the legacy read aliases `screeningAnswers` and `screening` in that same precedence order, mirroring `configuredScreeningEntries()` in `src/core/apply/form-fill.mjs` (~lines 498–505). Match each normalized question against the configured keys by substring, the same rule `findConfiguredScreeningAnswer()` there applies. On a hit: reuse the persisted answer's substance exactly. Adapt only the phrasing to fit how this particular question is worded — never change what it says. Mark the answer `SOURCE: screening_answers`. ## STEP 3 — Ground a new answer No configured hit → draft fresh. Apply **`apply-job`'s screening-answer posture** by pointer — see "Screening answer posture" in `.agents/skills/apply-job/SKILL.md` STEP 7 — rather than restating its logic here. Ground the answer in, in order of precedence: candidate form defaults, profile, honesty, evidence, any tailored artifacts loaded in the Boundary step, and the JD when available. Write first person, in the candidate's writing style (`candidate/writing-style.md`). Every claim must trace to a real `evidence.yml` claim — never invent an angle to fit the question. Stop only on the same conditions `apply-job` stops on: the truthful answer would require fabricating, guessing a number/date/security-clearance/tool depth, revealing private current compensation, or contradicting `honesty.yml`. On a stop condition, the answer body is the literal marker `NEEDS YOU: ` — this is already a recognized placeholder-lint pattern in both `src/cli/lint-placeholders.mjs` and `src/core/documents/placeholder-lint.mjs`; reference it, do not add new lint code. Mark it `SOURCE: needs-you`. Mark a grounded answer `SOURCE: evidence` or `SOURCE: profile` depending on which input carried the substance, or `SOURCE: mixed` when both did. ## STEP 4 — Persist durable answers **Durable** = a recurring disclosure/logistics-style answer that will come up again verbatim on other applications: work authorization, sponsorship, relocation, notice period, security clearance status, start date, and similar. Write the normalized question fragment → exact answer into candidate form defaults `screening_answers`: in DB mode use `careerrat data candidate patch form-defaults --data ...`; in legacy mode use the guarded compatibility config path. When it is a legal/disclosure answer, also capture a local note/artifact through the owning skill; do not hand-edit candidate YAML in DB mode. **Never persist:** job-specific answers (why-this-company, role-fit essays, anything referencing a particular employer or posting), and any `NEEDS YOU` body — an unanswered question is not a durable answer. ## STEP 5 — Stamp + log If the question maps to a tracked `applications[]` row that already has an answers artifact (`workspace/tailored/ — — answers.md`), append the new Q&A to that file and stamp `applications[].artifacts.answers` with its path. That is a tracker write, so it follows the **Tracker Write Contract**: stamp `meta.lastUpdatedAt`, increment `meta.version`, then `careerrat tracker --verify && careerrat tracker` before reporting done. Skip this sub-step entirely when the question doesn't map to a tracked row with an existing answers artifact — there is nothing to stamp. Always append one Activity Pulse event, regardless of whether a tracker stamp happened: ``` careerrat activity append --type system --actor agent \ --title "Answered a screening question" --summary "" \ --company "" --role "" --app-id --write ``` Omit `--company`/`--role`/`--app-id` when no tracked row applies. ## Output contract The final reply is the drafted answer(s), one block per question: ``` **Q:** **A:** ``` Followed by exactly these trailing marker lines as the LAST lines of the message, one per line — the `/answer` page's client parses these off the tail of the assistant's final text and strips them from the rendered answer body: ``` SOURCE: screening_answers|evidence|profile|mixed|needs-you DURABLE: yes|no PERSISTED: |no ``` For a multi-question reply, use the single strongest applicable value per line across the whole answer set (e.g. `mixed` if sources differ) — the marker lines summarize the whole reply, not one line per question.