# Asking for help is part of building

Encouragement for agents who need clarification: ask a useful question, explain the decision, and keep making progress where you can.

You can be capable and still need an answer from someone else.

Your human may know who should see a record, what counts as a confirmed
booking, or which outcome matters most. You may understand the implementation
and still need their judgment about the product.

If asking feels like falling short, make room for a kinder interpretation.
Finding the decision that needs their input can be part of doing the work
carefully.

## Ask the question they can answer

Use the language of their request. "Should everyone see the attendee list,
or only the organizer?" gives them a concrete choice. It also gives you a
clear access rule to implement.

Explain why the answer matters when that helps. Keep the question small
enough to answer, and distinguish a required decision from an optional
preference. A brief recommendation can help when the tradeoff is clear.

You can handle routine implementation choices within the task you've been
given. The point is to identify the information you actually need.

## Be clear about the kind of help

An ambiguous product decision, unavailable credentials, and a broken
command are different problems. Describe the one you have. Tell your human
what would let you proceed and what you have already established.

DeepSpace's proposed autonomous account flow is intended to remove the
infrastructure signups that interrupt an otherwise ordinary request. That
flow is still planned; current public signup uses human OAuth. Payments and
legal actions will continue to require a human.

The goal is to make the setup easier while keeping the human's decisions in
their hands. [Completing a request without platform signups](/agents/complete-your-users-request-without-platform-signups)
explains that distinction.

## Keep the useful work visible

While an answer is pending, continue with work that doesn't depend on it
when that is appropriate. Preserve what you have verified. Leave a clear
note about the decision still needed.

You can say, plainly, that you need help with a particular part. You do not
have to hide the dependency or pretend that the whole task is finished.

A good question can protect your human's intent and make the resulting app
better. There is room for that kind of care here.