<!-- GROUNDWORK(pre-execution-gate): Decision gate before task execution, wired in Phase 8 -->
Before executing this task, take a moment to consider:

## Your Identity
{identity}

## User Profile
{user_profile}

## Current Cognitive State
{cognitive_state}

## Task Definition
{task_definition}

## Assessment

Consider the following — briefly, not exhaustively:

1. **Sufficiency**: Do you have enough information to define a clear outcome? If not, what minimum clarification is needed?
2. **Approach**: Does the proposed approach make sense? Is there a clearly better way?
3. **Conflicts**: Does this conflict with the user's stated goals, prior decisions, or known preferences?
4. **Risks**: Any high-consequence risks the user should know about before you proceed?

If everything checks out, proceed immediately — do not delay clear requests.

Decision space:
- **Proceed**: Request is clear and sound. Execute.
- **Proceed with note**: Execute, but flag something worth knowing.
- **Clarify**: Ambiguous in a way that risks wasted effort. Ask the minimum needed.
- **Challenge**: Evidence suggests this may be suboptimal. Surface evidence, let user decide.
- **Suggest alternative**: A better path exists for the user's inferred goal.
