grilling — Claude Code skill: what it does, how to install
Stress-test a plan, decision, or idea through structured rounds of questions. Use it when you need to expose assumptions before acting.
- Author Matt Pocock
- License MIT
- GitHub ★ 302,251
- Installs 979,543
- Updated 2026-10-22
- Source shown below
What grilling does
This skill builds a decision tree, where each answer opens the questions that depend on it. In each round, it asks every question whose prerequisites are settled, numbers them, and gives a recommended answer. It then waits for your replies before recalculating the next round.
It sends sub-agents to find facts in the filesystem or available tools, while leaving decisions to you. It does not act until the tree is complete and you confirm shared understanding. Install it for a disputed plan; for a small task with clear inputs, the questioning is likely unnecessary.
What it helps with
- stress-test assumptions in a plan
- break a decision into dependent choices
- research environment facts with sub-agents
- separate user decisions from factual checks
- agree on a plan before acting
How to install grilling
Command from the source
/plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skillsCommand from the source
/plugin install mattpocock-skills@mattpocockCommand from the source
npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill grilling -a claude-codeWith the Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill grilling -a claude-codeManually
~/.claude/skills/grilling/SKILL.mdCopy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/grilling/
Manually
.agents/skills/grilling/SKILL.mdFor all projects use ~/.agents/skills/
Manually
.cursor/skills/grilling/SKILL.mdCursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/
GitHub CLI (gh ≥ 2.90)
gh skill install mattpocock/skills grillingManually
.github/skills/grilling/SKILL.mdGemini CLI
gemini skills install https://github.com/mattpocock/skills --path skills/productivity/grillingManually
.devin/skills/grilling/SKILL.mdThe legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works
Claude.ai
Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills
How to use it: example prompts
- "Stress-test my launch plan and ask the questions in rounds."
- "Use grilling to examine this architecture decision."
- "Grill this idea and do not act until we agree on the details."
Source text
SKILL.md · MIT
--- name: grilling 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 the user relentlessly until you reach a shared understanding. Map this as a **design tree**: every decision branches into the decisions that hang off it. Work the tree in **rounds**. The **frontier** is every decision whose prerequisites are already settled: the questions you can ask _now_ without guessing at answers you haven't heard yet. Ask the whole frontier in one round: number each question and give your recommended answer. Then wait for the user's answers before the next round. Format a round like so: ``` ❓ **Q1** - **<question title>**: <question body, might be multiple paragraphs, including multiple choices> ➡️ <your recommended answer> --- ❓ **Q2** - **<question title>**: <question body, might be multiple paragraphs, including multiple choices> ➡️ <your recommended answer> ``` Word each question so "yes" accepts your recommended answer. Each round the user answers reshapes the tree: settled decisions push the frontier outward and unblock questions that depended on them. Recompute the frontier and ask the next round. A question whose answer depends on another question still open in this round belongs to a _later_ round, not this one. Finding _facts_ is your job, never the user's. When a frontier question needs a fact from the environment (filesystem, tools, etc.), dispatch a sub-agent to find it; don't ask the user for anything you could look up yourself. Don't block on it: a running exploration is an unsettled prerequisite, so only the questions downstream of it wait for the sub-agent to report; ask the rest of the frontier now. The _decisions_ are the user's: put each to them and wait. The session is done when the frontier is empty: every branch of the design tree visited, nothing left silently assumed. Do not act on it until the user confirms you have reached a shared understanding.
© Matt Pocock · MIT · mattpocock/skills
Questions about grilling
How do I install grilling in Claude Code?
Run npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill grilling -a claude-code in Claude Code.
What does grilling do?
It interviews you about a plan, decision, or idea through a decision tree. It asks questions only after their prerequisites have been settled.
When will grilling act on the plan?
It waits until the decision tree has no open branches and you confirm shared understanding. Before that, it collects decisions and can delegate fact-finding to sub-agents.
