What is a pre-mortem in software development?

A pre-mortem is a strategy where a team imagines a project has already failed, then works backward to determine what led to that failure to prevent it in reality.

Can I integrate this with other developer workflows?

Yes, this skill is designed to feed guardrails into code review processes and pass immediate tasks directly to your project planning tools.

What is the recommended timeframe for a pre-mortem?

While it supports 30 and 180-day horizons, the default 90-day window is recommended for most mid-sized software initiatives.

How does the /ctx:pre-mortem command assist the process?

It structures the brainstorming session by prompting for horizons and success states, then automatically categorizes risks across technical and organizational dimensions.

Does it only cover technical bugs?

No, the skill evaluates failure modes across tech, UX, market competition, organizational hurdles, and compliance constraints.

Pre-Mortem Risk Planner

Name: Pre-Mortem Risk Planner
Author: NickCrew

byNickCrew

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Collaboration Tools

Facilitates proactive risk assessment by imagining project failures to establish robust guardrails and feature mitigations.

About

The Pre-Mortem skill helps teams anticipate potential project pitfalls before they occur, allowing for the proactive creation of mitigations and feature improvements. By defining a success state and then identifying failure modes across technical, user experience, and organizational domains, it transforms abstract risks into actionable tasks. This skill is essential for planning complex initiatives where early detection of compliance constraints or technical debt can save significant rework and ensure long-term project stability.

Key Features

Multi-horizon planning for 30, 90, and 180-day success states
Automated extraction of feature candidates from identified risk mitigations
Seamless integration with task planning and code review workflows
Cross-domain failure mode analysis covering Tech, UX, Org, Market, and Compliance
4 GitHub stars
Mitigation mapping with effort estimation (S/M/L) and ownership assignment

Use Cases

Generating defensive feature requirements based on predicted organizational or market failure scenarios
Identifying UX and compliance gaps during the early concept phase of a new product
Surfacing architectural risks before starting a major software migration or refactor

About

Key Features

Multi-horizon planning for 30, 90, and 180-day success states
Automated extraction of feature candidates from identified risk mitigations
Seamless integration with task planning and code review workflows
Cross-domain failure mode analysis covering Tech, UX, Org, Market, and Compliance
4 GitHub stars
Mitigation mapping with effort estimation (S/M/L) and ownership assignment

Use Cases

Generating defensive feature requirements based on predicted organizational or market failure scenarios
Identifying UX and compliance gaps during the early concept phase of a new product
Surfacing architectural risks before starting a major software migration or refactor