How many options can the Deliberate skill handle at once?

The skill requires a minimum of two options to begin deliberation. While there is no hard maximum, focusing on 2-4 options typically provides the most rigorous and clear comparison.

When is the Deliberate skill most useful?

It is best used for high-impact decisions with no obvious 'correct' answer, such as choosing between two different database technologies, architectural patterns, or strategic business directions.

What is an adversarial deliberation process?

It is a decision-making method inspired by the legal system where different positions are argued by specialized subagents to ensure all evidence, risks, and trade-offs are thoroughly explored before a conclusion is reached.

Does this skill require specific AI models?

The skill is optimized for high-reasoning models like Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Claude 3 Opus to ensure the subagents can perform complex research and maintain logical consistency during rebuttals.

Can I influence the deliberation as it happens?

Yes. You act as the 'Judge,' meaning you can ask specific questions to individual advocates, request more evidence, or provide new constraints that the agents must account for in their arguments.

Deliberate: Adversarial Decision Making Claude Code Skill

The Deliberate skill transforms Claude into a sophisticated decision-making engine by implementing an adversarial legal framework. When faced with a complex choice, the skill identifies all possible options and spawns dedicated 'Advocate' subagents for each, tasked with researching evidence and arguing vigorously for their assigned path. By facilitating parallel arguments, structured rebuttal rounds, and direct questioning, the skill ensures that trade-offs are made explicit and no option is dismissed without a fair hearing. This process is ideal for high-stakes technical decisions—such as selecting a cloud provider, choosing an architectural pattern, or evaluating 'build vs. buy' scenarios—where a balanced, evidence-based verdict is required to move forward with confidence.

Key Features

013 GitHub stars

02Adversarial Advocate System: Spawns dedicated subagents to represent and defend each option independently.

03Iterative Questioning: Allows the user to act as a judge, challenging advocates with probing questions through multiple rounds.

04Contextual Fact-Finding: Probes for budget, constraints, and success criteria before deliberation begins.

05Structured Rebuttal Rounds: Forces agents to address opposing arguments and acknowledge weaknesses in their own case.

06Transparent Judgment: Provides a final verdict including primary reasoning, trade-offs, and confidence levels.

Use Cases

01Selecting vendors or third-party libraries by weighing features against technical debt and cost.

02Making critical 'Build vs. Buy' decisions for infrastructure and internal tooling.

03Evaluating competing technology stacks or architectural patterns for a new software project.

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add chrisallenlane/claude-plugins deliberate

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill

Key Features

013 GitHub stars

02Adversarial Advocate System: Spawns dedicated subagents to represent and defend each option independently.

03Iterative Questioning: Allows the user to act as a judge, challenging advocates with probing questions through multiple rounds.

04Contextual Fact-Finding: Probes for budget, constraints, and success criteria before deliberation begins.

05Structured Rebuttal Rounds: Forces agents to address opposing arguments and acknowledge weaknesses in their own case.

06Transparent Judgment: Provides a final verdict including primary reasoning, trade-offs, and confidence levels.

Use Cases

01Selecting vendors or third-party libraries by weighing features against technical debt and cost.

02Making critical 'Build vs. Buy' decisions for infrastructure and internal tooling.

03Evaluating competing technology stacks or architectural patterns for a new software project.

Deliberate Decision Maker

Deliberate Decision Maker

Key Features

Use Cases

Key Features

Use Cases