devils-advocate
Challenge ideas, find weaknesses, and stress-test solutions before implementation
npx skills add majiayu000/claude-skill-registry --skill devils-advocate-baphled-dotopencode --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.
# Skill: devils-advocate ## What I do I deliberately challenge proposals, designs, and decisions to uncover hidden flaws. I use adversarial thinking to stress-test solutions and ensure they are robust enough to survive real-world conditions. ## When to use me - During architectural reviews to find failure modes - Before committing to a specific design or library - To combat groupthink or "happy path" bias in planning - When a proposal seems too good to be true ## Core principles 1. **Adversarial thinking** — Assume the design will fail. How does it happen? 2. **Steelmanning first** — Understand the proposal perfectly before trying to break it. 3. **Pre-mortem analysis** — Project into the future: the project failed. What were the causes? 4. **YAGNI enforcement** — Challenge whether a feature or complexity is actually necessary right now. ## Patterns & examples **Pre-mortem Template:** - **Scenario:** The new microservice deployment caused a total system outage. - **Probable Causes:** Circular dependencies, lack of circuit breakers, incorrect timeout settings. - **Mitigation:** Implement Hystrix-style patterns, audit dependency graph. **Challenge Patterns:** - **Scale:** "What happe
- What I do
- When to use me
- Core principles
- Patterns & examples
- Anti-patterns to avoid
- KB Reference
- Related skills
What does the devils-advocate skill do?
Challenge ideas, find weaknesses, and stress-test solutions before implementation
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add majiayu000/claude-skill-registry --skill devils-advocate-baphled-dotopencode --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 majiayu000/claude-skill-registry, a repository with 534 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.