From 170ad48655825783d0193e850e31a9aac957bb95 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Matt Pocock Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:58:15 +0100 Subject: [PATCH] grilling: reword the primitive for general use MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Drop the software-plan scoping from grilling's description and body so the interview reads as a stress-test of any plan, decision, or idea: "this plan" → "this", "enact the plan" → "act on it", "codebase" → "environment". The technique is unchanged, and grill-me is left as-is. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) --- .changeset/grilling-general-use.md | 5 +++++ README.md | 2 +- skills/productivity/README.md | 2 +- skills/productivity/grilling/SKILL.md | 8 ++++---- 4 files changed, 11 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) create mode 100644 .changeset/grilling-general-use.md diff --git a/.changeset/grilling-general-use.md b/.changeset/grilling-general-use.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0d9fe1c --- /dev/null +++ b/.changeset/grilling-general-use.md @@ -0,0 +1,5 @@ +--- +"mattpocock-skills": patch +--- + +Reword **`grilling`** for general use. Its description and body no longer scope the interview to a software plan: "this plan" → "this", "enact the plan" → "act on it", and "exploring the codebase" → "exploring the environment". The technique is unchanged; it now reads as a stress-test of any plan, decision, or idea. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md index 1b290f8..70eff80 100644 --- a/README.md +++ b/README.md @@ -182,4 +182,4 @@ General workflow tools, not code-specific. **Model-invoked** -- **[grilling](./skills/productivity/grilling/SKILL.md)** — Interview the user relentlessly about a plan or design until every branch of the decision tree is resolved. The reusable loop behind `grill-me` and `grill-with-docs`. +- **[grilling](./skills/productivity/grilling/SKILL.md)** — Interview the user relentlessly about a plan, decision, or idea until every branch of the decision tree is resolved. The reusable loop behind `grill-me` and `grill-with-docs`. diff --git a/skills/productivity/README.md b/skills/productivity/README.md index e98607d..dcc015a 100644 --- a/skills/productivity/README.md +++ b/skills/productivity/README.md @@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ Reachable only when you type them (`disable-model-invocation: true`). Model- or user-reachable (rich trigger phrasing so the model can reach for them). -- **[grilling](./grilling/SKILL.md)** — Interview the user relentlessly about a plan or design until every branch of the decision tree is resolved. +- **[grilling](./grilling/SKILL.md)** — Interview the user relentlessly about a plan, decision, or idea until every branch of the decision tree is resolved. diff --git a/skills/productivity/grilling/SKILL.md b/skills/productivity/grilling/SKILL.md index 219930f..52d8eb3 100644 --- a/skills/productivity/grilling/SKILL.md +++ b/skills/productivity/grilling/SKILL.md @@ -1,12 +1,12 @@ --- name: grilling -description: Grill the user relentlessly about a plan or design. Use when the user wants to stress-test a plan before building, or uses any 'grill' trigger phrases. +description: Grill the user relentlessly about a plan, decision, or idea. Use when the user wants to stress-test their thinking, or uses any 'grill' trigger phrases. --- -Interview me relentlessly about every aspect of this plan until we reach a shared understanding. Walk down each branch of the design tree, resolving dependencies between decisions one-by-one. For each question, provide your recommended answer. +Interview me relentlessly about every aspect of this until we reach a shared understanding. Walk down each branch of the decision tree, resolving dependencies between decisions one-by-one. For each question, provide your recommended answer. Ask the questions one at a time, waiting for feedback on each question before continuing. Asking multiple questions at once is bewildering. -If a *fact* can be found by exploring the codebase, look it up rather than asking me. The *decisions*, though, are mine — put each one to me and wait for my answer. +If a *fact* can be found by exploring the environment (filesystem, tools, etc.), look it up rather than asking me. The *decisions*, though, are mine — put each one to me and wait for my answer. -Do not enact the plan until I confirm we have reached a shared understanding. +Do not act on it until I confirm we have reached a shared understanding.