decision-variance
Reconcile the project's architectural artifacts against the scaffold and prior decisions, then present each variance as a SMARTS analysis for the user to decide. Routed to when the user asks to arbitrate, reconcile, or consolidate architectural context, requests a variance report, mentions ADR conflicts, or asks which downstream artifacts the current state supports. Never decides alone — every arbitration is user-attributed and logged.
npx skills add arbiterForge/codeArbiter --skill decision-variance --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# decision-variance Reconcile the architectural artifacts against the scaffold; present variances; the user decides. This skill never arbitrates on its own — every recorded decision carries user attribution. The SMARTS lenses, cell rules, and strength labels are in `{{PLUGIN_ROOT}}/includes/smarts/core.md` — read it before Phase 3. The append-only decision-log entry format is in `{{PLUGIN_ROOT}}/includes/smarts/decision-log-format.md` — read it before writing a log line. ## Pre-flight Read these, or STOP and surface the gap — never guess a path or a position: - `{{PROJECT_DIR}}/.codearbiter/CONTEXT.md` — project context and the `stage:` maturity value. - `{{PROJECT_DIR}}/.codearbiter/security-controls.md` — only when a variance touches a security boundary (auth, crypto, secrets). Feeds the Securable lens. Locate the three architectural artifacts by **exact** filename — `01-architecture-breakdown.md`, `02-phased-build-plan.md`, `03-task-backlog.md` — first under `{{PROJECT_DIR}}/.codearbiter/plans/`, then the project root, then `docs/`. MUST NOT pattern-match similar names (`architecture-draft.md`, `task-list.md`); loose matching arbitrates against the wrong document. If any of the
- Pre-flight
- Phase 1 — Locate inputs and detect stale decisions · gate: STOP
- Phase 2 — Build the evidence index · gate: BLOCK
- Phase 3 — Generate the variance report · gate: BLOCK
- Phase 4 — Present variances and capture decisions · gate: STOP
- Phase 5 — Recommend downstream artifacts · gate: BLOCK
- Hard rules
What does the decision-variance skill do?
Reconcile the project's architectural artifacts against the scaffold and prior decisions, then present each variance as a SMARTS analysis for the user to decide. Routed to when the user asks to arbitrate, reconcile, or consolidate architectural context, requests a variance report, mentions ADR conflicts, or asks which downstream artifacts the current state supports. Never decides alone — every arbitration is user-attributed and logged.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add arbiterForge/codeArbiter --skill decision-variance --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From arbiterForge/codeArbiter, a repository with 138 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.