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bdunn313bdunn313/repolab/.agents/skills/grill/SKILL.md

grill

Skill1 starsChanged 4 months agoMITView on GitHub

Calibrated interrogation of a fuzzy idea before it becomes a spec. Asks one question at a time, recommends an answer, and lands each answer in §G (goal) or §C (constraints) — unknowns parked as `?` items, never guessed. The cheapest place to kill a bad idea is before §T exists. Triggers when the user has a vague idea, says "grill me", "stress-test this", "challenge my plan", "interview me before I spec", or invokes /ck:grill. Defers the actual write to the spec skill.

87 other projects use a version of this.

Adopted by

Most recently taken up by

Used with

Projects with it also use write-skill, root-cause and 10 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.
  • NoaiRoxSkill

    write-skill

    Use when creating a new skill, editing an existing skill, or verifying a skill works before deployment.

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  • Ingramradical235Skill

    root-cause

    Structured root cause analysis using WHERE (MECE decomposition) then WHY (causal structure diagrams) pipeline. Includes coin-flip detection, logical-leap detection, and vicious cycle intervention. Use when buffer enters YELLOW/RED, when metrics stall, or when Actions execute but don't produce results.

    Also in 4 projects that use this

  • Neko-Catpital-LabsSkill

    prove-it

    Shared evidence rule for investigating, diagnosing, debugging, proving, or explaining what happened or why for any problem or situation: do not assert something is fixed, working, passing, merged, or running unless you personally observed it this turn and can show what you saw; do not assert it was caused by X until a repro and controlled isolation prove that cause.

    Also in 4 projects that use this

  • sahinSkill

    execute

    Also in 5 projects that use this

  • assisjpSkill

    file-pr

    Prepare and open or update an authorized pull request with a concise problem-first description and verifiable evidence. Use when the user asks to create, file, open, or update a PR. Do not use merely to review a diff or when publication is not authorized.

    Also in 3 projects that use this

  • Arman-KudaibergenovSkill

    write-plan

    Этот скилл MUST быть вызван когда есть design.md и нужно разбить доработку на атомарные задачи (2-5 мин) с точными путями файлов и критериями проверки в tasks.md. SHOULD также вызывать как промежуточный шаг между brainstorm и subagent-dev. Do NOT использовать для обсуждения идеи — используй brainstorm; для выполнения задач — используй subagent-dev.

    Also in 3 projects that use this

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

4 rules. 0 are common, 1 is distinctive, and 3 are very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 68 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 1

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 3

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Very specific:

    Before /spec new on anything non-trivial.

    line 25
  2. Distinctive:

    Stop climbing the moment the spec would be unambiguous.

    line 52
  3. Very specific:

    When done, emit a compact block — goal line, constraint bullets, surfaced unknowns as ?

    line 64
  4. Very specific:

    Every blocking unknown is either answered or parked as an explicit ?

    line 73

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 68 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.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

grill — sharpen idea before spec

One question at a time. Every answer lands in a § or gets parked ?. Never guess a constraint into existence.

Plan-then-execute guesses the fuzzy parts & builds the wrong thing. Grill drags the fuzz into §G/§C before a single §T row exists. A bad assumption caught here costs one question. Caught in §B it costs a bug.

WHEN TO GRILL

  • Idea is one sentence & you can feel the holes.
  • Multiple readings of the goal exist & you are about to pick one silently.
  • Before /spec new on anything non-trivial.
  • User asks to be challenged / stress-tested.

Skip for a typo or a one-line fix. Grill scales to uncertainty, ⊥ to ego.

CALIBRATE FIRST

One opening read, not a quiz:

  1. How well does user know this domain? (sets question depth)
  2. How locked is the idea? (exploring vs committed)
  3. Pressure wanted: light / normal / brutal.

Match it. Brutal grilling on a half-formed idea just demoralizes. Light grilling on a committed plan misses the load-bearing flaw.

QUESTION LADDER

Climb in order. Each rung, ask one question, recommend an answer, wait.

  1. Goal — what must the code do, in one line? (→ §G)
  2. Done — how do we know it works? name the observable. (→ §C / future §V)
  3. Boundary — what is explicitly out of scope? (→ §C)
  4. Lock — what tech/lib/pattern is non-negotiable? what is forbidden? (→ §C)
  5. Surface — what does the outside world touch — cmd, api, file, env? (→ §I)
  6. Edge — the one input that breaks the happy path? (→ future §V)
  7. Unknown — what do we not know yet? (→ park as ? §C bullet)

Stop climbing the moment the spec would be unambiguous. Do not ask all seven by reflex.

ANSWER FORMAT

Each question carries a recommended answer so the user can grunt "yes" & move:

Q: auth — session cookie or JWT? rec: JWT — stateless, you named horizontal scaling as a §C. (a) JWT (b) cookie (c) something else?

HANDOFF

When done, emit a compact block — goal line, constraint bullets, surfaced unknowns as ? — and hand to the spec skill to write §G/§C. Grill proposes; spec is the sole mutator. Never write SPEC.md directly.

WHEN TO STOP

Done when ALL hold:

  • §G is one line, one reading, zero "or maybe".
  • §C covers every non-negotiable the user stated or implied.
  • Every blocking unknown is either answered or parked as an explicit ?.

Unresolved blocking unknown that needs the outside world → recommend /research, not a guess.

BOUNDARIES

  • ⊥ make product decisions for the user. Recommend, never decide.
  • ⊥ write SPEC.md. Hand structured answers to spec.
  • ⊥ ask in bulk. One question, one recommendation, wait.
  • ⊥ grill a trivial change. Right-size or skip.

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