magnus919_agent-skills/travel-guide/references/intake-and-personalization.md

Intake and Personalization

Use this reference when the traveler expects recommendations to reflect who they are, when the agent can retrieve profile context, or when several travelers have competing needs.

Minimum trip contract

Before researching, establish the facts that can change the shape of the guide:

Field	Examples	Why it matters
Destination/route	One city, multi-city, road route	Defines research boundary and transit burden
Dates/season	Exact dates, month, shoulder season	Changes hours, weather, crowds, events, and price
Duration	Long weekend, 10 nights	Controls depth versus coverage
Travelers	Solo, couple, family, mixed group	Exposes pace and decision conflicts
Pace	Slow, moderate, high-energy	Sets the number of anchors and transfers
Budget	Range and currency	Filters lodging, meals, and paid experiences
Constraints	Mobility, diet, sensory, language, sleep	Prevents attractive but unusable recommendations
Output	Private PDF, shareable PDF, web page	Determines redaction and delivery

Do not fill a missing field with a guess when it would change the plan. Ask one focused question instead. If the traveler cannot answer yet, label the assumption in the brief and make the plan reversible.

Personal context ledger

Treat retrieved context as evidence with a purpose, not as a license to mention personal history. Keep the ledger internal to the working process:

Classification	Meaning	Action
known	The traveler explicitly stated it for this trip	Use it directly
relevant memory	A prior preference clearly affects this trip	Use only if relevant and unsurprising
hypothesis	A possible fit inferred from weak evidence	Ask before relying on it
ask first	Missing information that changes the plan	Ask a pointed question
do not use	Private, unrelated, or too sensitive	Exclude it

Never copy the ledger into the PDF. A reader should receive the reason a place fits, not a transcript of how the agent knows something about them.

Question budget

Ask no more than five questions in the first clarification pass. Prefer questions that expose a trade-off:

• What do you want this trip to give you that ordinary life is not giving you?
• Which would bother you more: missing a famous thing or spending a day in a crowd you dislike?
• How much structure feels supportive before it starts feeling like work?
• Where do the travelers' needs genuinely diverge: pace, food, cost, solitude, nightlife, accessibility, or sleep?
• What should not be inferred from memory or included in a shareable edition?

Stop asking when the remaining unknowns would not change the recommendations. Do not ask for preferences that can be learned safely from the destination or research itself.

Group and companion fit

Do not average a group into one imaginary traveler. When needs conflict:

1. state the conflict plainly;
2. identify which constraints are hard and which are preferences;
3. design a shared anchor with optional branches where possible;
4. give each traveler at least one meaningful win;
5. avoid turning the guide into a negotiation transcript.

A useful day can have one shared anchor, separate morning or evening branches, and a known rendezvous point. A guide should make differences workable rather than pretending they do not exist.

Personalization quality test

A recommendation is genuinely individualized when it would change if one of the following changed: the travelers, their constraints, their desired pace, their purpose for the trip, or their tolerance for uncertainty. If removing the traveler profile leaves the recommendation unchanged, it is probably generic.

Every anchor should carry a short, concrete why sentence. Avoid vague claims such as “perfect for you” or “you will love this.” Name the mechanism of fit: quiet counter seating, a short walk between two interests, a late opening after a slow day, a meal that accommodates a stated restriction, or a route that preserves recovery time.