pre-mortem

Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated

Validate a plan or spec before implementation using multi-model council. Answer: Is this good enough to implement? Triggers: "pre-mortem", "validate plan", "validate spec", "is this ready".

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Sourceboshu2/agentops
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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add boshu2/agentops pre-mortem

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
pre-mortem-skillplan-validationmulti-model-councilspec-reviewworkflow-integration

SKILL.md Content

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Pre-Mortem Skill

Purpose: Is this plan/spec good enough to implement?
Run 
/council validate
on a plan or spec to get multi-model judgment before committing to implementation.

Quick Start

bash
/pre-mortem                                         # validates most recent plan
/pre-mortem path/to/PLAN.md                         # validates specific plan
/pre-mortem --quick path/to/PLAN.md                 # fast inline check, no spawning
/pre-mortem --deep path/to/SPEC.md                  # 4 judges with plan-review preset
/pre-mortem --mixed path/to/PLAN.md                 # cross-vendor (Claude + Codex)
/pre-mortem --preset=architecture path/to/PLAN.md   # architecture-focused review
/pre-mortem --explorers=3 path/to/SPEC.md           # deep investigation of plan
/pre-mortem --debate path/to/PLAN.md                # two-round adversarial review

Execution Steps

Step 1: Find the Plan/Spec

If path provided: Use it directly.
If no path: Find most recent plan:
bash
ls -lt .agents/plans/ 2>/dev/null | head -3
ls -lt .agents/specs/ 2>/dev/null | head -3
Use the most recent file. If nothing found, ask user.

Step 1a: Search Knowledge Flywheel

bash
if command -v ao &>/dev/null; then
    ao search "plan validation lessons <goal>" 2>/dev/null | head -10
fi
If ao returns prior plan review findings, include them as context for the council packet. Skip silently if ao is unavailable or returns no results.

Step 2: Run Council Validation

Run 
/council
with the plan-review preset and always 4 judges (--deep):
/council --deep --preset=plan-review validate <plan-path>
Default (4 judges with plan-review perspectives):
  • missing-requirements
    : What's not in the spec that should be? What questions haven't been asked?
  • feasibility
    : What's technically hard or impossible here? What will take 3x longer than estimated?
  • scope
    : What's unnecessary? What's missing? Where will scope creep?
  • spec-completeness
    : Are boundaries defined? Do conformance checks cover all acceptance criteria? Is the plan mechanically verifiable?
Pre-mortem always uses 4 judges (
--deep
) because plans deserve thorough review. The spec-completeness judge validates SDD patterns; for plans without boundaries/conformance sections, it issues WARN (not FAIL) for backward compatibility.
With --quick (inline, no spawning):
/council --quick validate <plan-path>
Single-agent structured review. Fast sanity check before committing to full council.
With --mixed (cross-vendor):
/council --mixed --preset=plan-review validate <plan-path>
3 Claude + 3 Codex agents for cross-vendor plan validation with plan-review perspectives.
With explicit preset override:
/pre-mortem --preset=architecture path/to/PLAN.md
Explicit 
--preset
overrides the automatic plan-review preset. Uses architecture-focused personas instead.
With explorers:
/council --deep --preset=plan-review --explorers=3 validate <plan-path>
Each judge spawns 3 explorers to investigate aspects of the plan's feasibility against the codebase. Useful for complex migration or refactoring plans.
With debate mode:
/pre-mortem --debate
Enables adversarial two-round review for plan validation. Use for high-stakes plans where multiple valid approaches exist. See 
/council
docs for full --debate details.

Step 3: Interpret Council Verdict

Council VerdictPre-Mortem ResultAction
PASSReady to implementProceed
WARNReview concernsAddress warnings or accept risk
FAILNot readyFix issues before implementing

Step 4: Write Pre-Mortem Report

Write to: 
.agents/council/YYYY-MM-DD-pre-mortem-<topic>.md
markdown
# Pre-Mortem: <Topic>

**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Plan/Spec:** <path>

## Council Verdict: PASS / WARN / FAIL

| Judge | Verdict | Key Finding |
|-------|---------|-------------|
| Missing-Requirements | ... | ... |
| Feasibility | ... | ... |
| Scope | ... | ... |

## Shared Findings
- ...

## Concerns Raised
- ...

## Recommendation
<council recommendation>

## Decision Gate

[ ] PROCEED - Council passed, ready to implement
[ ] ADDRESS - Fix concerns before implementing
[ ] RETHINK - Fundamental issues, needs redesign

Step 5: Record Ratchet Progress

bash
ao ratchet record pre-mortem 2>/dev/null || true

Step 6: Report to User

Tell the user:
  1. Council verdict (PASS/WARN/FAIL)
  2. Key concerns (if any)
  3. Recommendation
  4. Location of pre-mortem report

Integration with Workflow

/plan epic-123
    │
    ▼
/pre-mortem                    ← You are here
    │
    ├── PASS → /implement
    ├── WARN → Review, then /implement or fix
    └── FAIL → Fix plan, re-run /pre-mortem

Examples

Validate a Plan

bash
/pre-mortem .agents/plans/2026-02-05-auth-system.md
3 judges (missing-requirements, feasibility, scope) review the auth system plan.

Cross-Vendor Plan Validation

bash
/pre-mortem --mixed .agents/plans/2026-02-05-auth-system.md
3 Claude + 3 Codex agents validate the plan with plan-review perspectives.

Architecture-Focused Review

bash
/pre-mortem --preset=architecture .agents/specs/api-v2-spec.md
3 judges with architecture perspectives (scalability, maintainability, simplicity) review the spec.

Auto-Find Recent Plan

bash
/pre-mortem
Finds the most recent plan in 
.agents/plans/
and validates it.

See Also

  • skills/council/SKILL.md
    — Multi-model validation council
  • skills/plan/SKILL.md
    — Create implementation plans
  • skills/vibe/SKILL.md
    — Validate code after implementation