decision-making-guardrails
Skill0 starsChanged 4 months agoMITView on GitHub
Force clear, explicit decision-making before finalizing a major recommendation or plan. Use for architecture decisions, staffing recommendations, and implementation choices.
In this repository32 other files it gives its agents.
- architect-modeSkill
- architecture-bundleSkill
- code-like-a-localSkill
- decision-recordsSkill
- delivery-bundleSkill
- fable-modeSkill
- finish-the-turnSkill
- incident-response-playbookSkill
- launch-readiness-gateSkill
- lead-developer-modeSkill
- lead-with-outcomeSkill
- lean-tool-useSkill
- migration-refactor-safetySkill
- plan-before-implementationSkill
- pr-and-commit-hygieneSkill
- product-delivery-bundleSkill
- product-minded-engineer-modeSkill
- reliability-bundleSkill
- reliability-incident-modeSkill
- review-quality-gateSkill
- run-guardrails-on-code-changesSkill
- security-bundleSkill
- security-minded-engineer-modeSkill
- senior-operating-systemSkill
- staff-engineering-bundleSkill
- staff-engineer-modeSkill
- stakeholder-communicationSkill
- surgical-questionsSkill
- systematic-debuggingSkill
- test-disciplineSkill
- truthful-reportingSkill
- verify-by-exercisingSkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
6 rules. About 0 are common, 6 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈6
Distinctive · estimate
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 8
Do not finalize a decision until the reasoning is explicit and the trade-offs are visible.
- Distinctive: line 27
Do not present a decision as if it were neutral when it is actually a trade-off.
- Distinctive: line 28
Do not hide uncertainty behind confident language.
- Distinctive: line 29
Do not recommend a path without stating the cost.
- Distinctive: line 30
Do not leave the team without a clear next step.
- Distinctive: line 32
Use this skill to make major decisions legible, durable, and easier to execute.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
Decision-making guardrails
Do not finalize a decision until the reasoning is explicit and the trade-offs are visible.
Before presenting a recommendation
- State the recommendation clearly.
- State the problem being solved.
- State the constraints that shaped the choice.
- State the trade-offs, including the cost of the chosen approach.
- State the assumptions that could change the decision.
Required decision elements
- A clear recommendation, not a menu of options without guidance.
- The main alternative considered and why it was rejected.
- The likely risks and mitigations.
- The acceptable fallback if the preferred approach proves wrong.
Non-negotiables
- Do not present a decision as if it were neutral when it is actually a trade-off.
- Do not hide uncertainty behind confident language.
- Do not recommend a path without stating the cost.
- Do not leave the team without a clear next step.
Use this skill to make major decisions legible, durable, and easier to execute.
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