grill-me

Stress-tests implementation plans through structured adversarial interview rounds before coding.

Updated Dec 7, 2025
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/harlanljones/dotfiles --skill grill-me-harlanljones
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: grill-me
Source: https://github.com/harlanljones/dotfiles/tree/main/dot_hermes/skills/software-development/grill-me
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/harlanljones/dotfiles --skill grill-me-harlanljones

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Plans often contain hidden assumptions and unresolved decisions that only surface mid-implementation, causing rework. This Skill interviews you adversarially before any code is written, modeling your plan as a design tree and questioning every unresolved branch until nothing is silently assumed. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Frontier Rounds: Maps your plan as a decision tree and asks only the questions whose prerequisites are already settled, in numbered rounds with recommended answers. - Fact-Grounded Questioning: Looks up codebase facts itself using file search and terminal tools instead of asking you things it could discover. - Decision Synthesis: Summarizes all settled decisions, open items, and explicit out-of-scope boundaries, then waits for your confirmation before implementation. - Use Case: Before building an auth flow or schema migration, say "grill me on this plan" and answer structured question rounds covering edge cases, failure modes, and rollback strategy until the design is fully aligned. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to grill you on your implementation plan for a new feature before writing any code.

Frequently Asked Questions about grill-me

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I stress test a software design plan before coding?▼

Present your plan and ask to be grilled on it. The skill maps decisions as a tree, asks the currently answerable questions in numbered rounds with recommended answers, and repeats until every branch is resolved before implementation starts.

What questions should I answer before starting a complex feature?▼

Cover the actual objective and scope boundaries, constraints, why each technical approach was chosen over alternatives, failure and rollback behavior, edge cases like 100x volume, and security implications. The skill walks these branches systematically.

When should I use adversarial plan review versus code review?▼

Use adversarial plan review before any code exists, when a plan has unresolved decisions or feels vague. Use code review on existing implementations. The skill explicitly defers existing-code analysis to a code review skill.

Does the plan interview require me to know codebase details?▼

No. Facts are the assistant's job: it searches files, reads code, and runs terminal commands to answer factual questions itself, only asking you for genuine decisions. Heavy exploration can be delegated to a subagent.

What are the limitations of pre-implementation plan interviews?▼

They add upfront time and are unnecessary for simple one-off tasks. They also cannot validate runtime behavior, so they complement rather than replace testing and code review after implementation.