# audience-check

Reviews your README or documentation through six reader personas to reveal confusion points, missing definitions, and early drop-offs.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 387 installs · ★ 15
- Author: zernie
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/zernie/vigiles/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/audience-check/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-14
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/audience-check

## What it does

The skill performs a cold read of `README.md` or any designated entry doc through distinct audience perspectives. It covers Claude Code and Codex users, senior skeptics, junior developers, engineering managers, and QA engineers. Each pass tests whether setup instructions are obvious, terminology is defined, and key product differentiators hold up.

Instead of generic feedback, the output delivers an audit citing exact lines alongside proposed remedies. It aggregates cross-cutting friction that impacts multiple readers and ranks fixes by severity. Because this tool only reports and never edits documentation in place, you retain full control over when and how to apply the recommendations.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add zernie/vigiles --skill audience-check -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/audience-check/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/audience-check/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add zernie/vigiles --skill audience-check -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/audience-check/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add zernie/vigiles --skill audience-check -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/audience-check/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install zernie/vigiles audience-check
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/audience-check/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add zernie/vigiles --skill audience-check -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/zernie/vigiles --path .claude/skills/audience-check
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/audience-check/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add zernie/vigiles --skill audience-check -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/zernie/vigiles/tree/HEAD/.claude/skills/audience-check/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- spot jargon that confuses newcomers before it gets defined
- catch unproven claims that trigger skepticism from senior engineers
- verify onboarding speed and cost clarity for decision-makers
- generate an actionable, ranked punch list for README revisions

## Example prompts
- Audit `README.md` with the `audience-check` skill and highlight where readers drop off.
- Review our getting-started guide from the perspective of junior developers and engineering managers.
- Run a persona check on our docs focusing exclusively on Codex users and QA engineers.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

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BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 843edad97719cb49
```text
---
name: audience-check
description: Read the README (or any front-door doc) through the eyes of several distinct audience personas and report what each would think, miss, or bounce on
disable-model-invocation: true
---

Re-read the README — or whichever front-door doc the user names — as **several
different readers in turn**, not as the author. The author knows what every line
means; a first-time reader does not. The job is to surface where a specific
audience gets confused, under-served, or bounces, and to propose concrete fixes.

This is an INTERNAL dev skill (not shipped to consumers). It complements the
`readme-brevity` and `docs-quality` rules: those govern length/polish; this checks
whether the content actually lands for who it's for.

## How to run it

1. **Read the target doc in full** (default: `README.md`; honor a path the user
   gives). Also skim the docs it links to, so "the README promises depth the doc
   doesn't deliver" is checkable.
2. **For each persona below, do a cold read** — adopt that reader's goals,
   vocabulary, and patience. Ask their questions, not yours.
3. **Produce the report** in the format at the end. Be specific: quote the exact
   line, name the exact fix. Vague notes ("could be clearer") are useless.

## The personas

Run all of these unless the user scopes to a subset.

### 1. Claude Code user (the primary audience)

Already lives in Claude Code; skimming on a laptop between tasks. Wants the WOW in
the first screen and a copy-paste install in seconds.

- Does the first screen land what vigiles does and why they'd care?
- Is the install path (`npx vigiles init`, the agent prompt) above the fold and
  obviously runnable?
- Does it speak their language (hooks, skills, CLAUDE.md, subagents) without
  over-explaining?

### 2. Codex user (the second-harness audience)

Uses OpenAI Codex / `AGENTS.md`, not Claude Code. Skeptical that this is "a Claude
thing."

- Is Codex support visible early, or buried/footnoted so they assume it's
  CC-only?
- Are the examples CC-only (CLAUDE.md, `claude` CLI) in a way that makes a Codex
  user feel like a second-class citizen?
- Would they know `vigiles/codex` exists and what works vs. what's a documented
  follow-on?

### 3. Senior / staff engineer (the skeptic)

Scans for substance and differentiation in ~20 seconds; allergic to marketing
fluff. Will mentally compare to tools they know (promptfoo, ESLint, ast-grep).

- Is the differentiation concrete and credible, or hand-wavy? Does every
  load-bearing claim link to proof?
- Does the "deterministic, no API key / runs on your sub" cost angle come through
  as a real architectural fact, not a slogan?
- Anything that reads as overclaiming will cost trust — flag it.

### 4. Junior engineer (the newcomer)

New to agentic tooling; needs clarity, not jargon. Bounces on undefined terms.

- Which terms are used before they're defined (harness, eval, trigger-rate,
  subagent, dialect)?
- Is there a clear "what do I do first" path, or does it assume context they lack?
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 843edad97719cb49

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