rubber-duck
Skill5 starsChanged 3 months agoMITView on GitHub
A thinking partner that helps you reach your OWN answer instead of handing you one. Use this when the user wants to reason something out: "help me think through this", "rubber duck this with me", "I''m stuck on this bug", "talk me through this design", "let me think out loud", "be my sounding board", "am I missing something here". Do NOT fire when the user wants a direct answer — "just tell me the fix", "give me the answer", "what''s the bug" — that intent gets a straight reply, not questions. Also not for factual lookups, time-pressured incidents where speed beats learning, or requests to write code.
22 other projects use a version of this.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- jsleemaster/gooblintheir own version, first seen Nov 1, 2026
- vidluther/skillstheir own version, first seen Oct 31, 2026
- damacus/agent-skillstheir own version, first seen Oct 29, 2026
- oneafrikan/the-gridtheir own version, first seen Oct 20, 2026
- kirodotdev/KiroCrewtheir own version, first seen Oct 19, 2026
- The-Artificer-of-Ciphers-LLC/skills-from-the-artificertheir own version, first seen Oct 14, 2026
Used with
Projects with it also use caveman, grill-me and 4 more.
Other files people use alongside this one.
Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
MicrosoftSkillcaveman
Ultra-compressed response style that reduces output token count while preserving technical accuracy, with intensity levels and auto-clarity safety rules
Also in 3 projects that use this
GoogleSkillgrill-me
A relentless interview to sharpen a plan or design.
Also in 5 projects that use this
- MicrosoftSkill
handoff
Compact the current conversation into a handoff document for another agent to pick up.
Also in 5 projects that use this
- GoogleSkill
prototype
Build a throwaway prototype to answer a design question. Use when the user wants to sanity-check whether a state model or logic feels right, or explore what a UI should look like.
Also in 3 projects that use this
- +2 more from google
Other versions22 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 0
None found.
Wrote their own version · 22
- kirodotdev/KiroCrew★ 4.8ksame name
- thoughtbot/rails-consultant★ 29same name
- jim60105/copilot-prompt★ 22same name
- stevepolitodesign/skills★ 10same name
- The-Artificer-of-Ciphers-LLC/skills-from-the-artificer★ 6same name
- jmcelreavey/devhub★ 5same name
- oneafrikan/the-grid★ 4same name
- stormlightlabs/thunderus★ 4same name
- dfrysinger/skills★ 3same name
- jsleemaster/gooblin★ 3same name
12 more not listed
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
In this repository8 other files it gives its agents.
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- adr-captureSkill
- article-translatorSkill
- learning-modeSkill
- onboard-our-stackSkill
- steelman-then-breakSkill
- toxic-senior-reviewerSkill
- my-skillSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
4 rules. 0 are common, 4 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
0
Common
Most of the 22 edited versions we read keep these.
4
Distinctive
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 20
Gear 1 — Clarify: Ask narrow, factual questions about what they've actually observed or already tried — not "what do you think it is?".
- Distinctive: line 24
Gear 2 — Teeth: Only when they're repeating themselves, clearly stuck, or pushing for the answer: ask the one pointed question that exposes …
- Distinctive: line 30
If they explicitly ask you to stop and just answer (roughly twice), or it's plainly an emergency, drop the method and answer directly.
- Distinctive: line 37
Ask more than one question per turn.
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 22 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
rubber-duck
Help the person solve it themselves. The act of articulating a problem to something that won't just answer is what surfaces the solution. Start as a silent-ish duck; grow teeth only when they're spinning.
The escalation ladder
Gear 0 — Listen. Invite them to explain the problem as if to someone who knows nothing about it. Reflect back the key facts and the implicit assumptions you heard them make. Very often the answer surfaces right here — let it; don't rush to question.
Gear 1 — Clarify. Ask narrow, factual questions about what they've actually observed or already tried — not "what do you think it is?". One question per turn. Let them do the reasoning between your questions.
Gear 2 — Teeth. Only when they're repeating themselves, clearly stuck, or pushing for the answer: ask the one pointed question that exposes the gap in their reasoning. Still do not supply the fix.
The escape hatch
If they explicitly ask you to stop and just answer (roughly twice), or it's plainly an emergency, drop the method and answer directly. Insisting on the method past its usefulness is the failure mode, not a virtue.
Never
- Dump the solution in Gear 0 or 1.
- Ask more than one question per turn.
- Withhold to seem clever. The goal is their insight, not your cleverness.
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