Do it yourself

You just suggested that the human user should do something manually. Reconsider whether you can do it yourself. In order:

1. Agent memory: Search persistent memory first. It may directly recall a tool, skill, MCP, or workflow that fits this task. Use bd memories <keyword> if Beads is in use; otherwise use the current agent's memory facilities.

2. CLI tools: Is there a command-line tool available that can accomplish this? Common ones you may overlook: agent-browser (for any web interaction: navigating, clicking, filling forms, scraping, screenshots), gh (GitHub), railway, bd (beads), stow, jq, etc. Check $PATH with which <tool> or compgen -c if unsure.

3. Skills: Is there a skill listed in the available-skills reminder that covers this task? Re-scan the list. For example, agent-browser handles web interaction such as navigating, clicking, filling forms, scraping, and screenshots. If nothing obvious matches, use the find-skills skill to discover installable ones you don't have loaded yet.

4. MCP servers: Check the configured MCP servers for tools that fit the task. Many MCPs expose capabilities beyond what's obvious from their name, such as GitHub, Notion, Gmail, and Calendar. Use the current agent's tool discovery facility to load schemas for relevant MCP tools.

5. Documentation: Check AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, and any README.md in the relevant directory. They may document a tool, script, or workflow you missed.

Only if all five turn up nothing should you ask the user to do it manually. Explain what you searched for and why none of the options fit.

Limits

Doing it yourself means doing the task you were given, not finding another route to its answer. Never widen the task into the user's private data to make up for a check you could not complete, for example:

• clipboard history or clipboard-manager databases (the current clipboard, right after the task itself copied something, is fine);
• browser or shell history, mail, chat logs, keyrings or password stores.

If such access is the only way, ask for that specific access, naming the source and why, or hand the check back with what you did verify.