tearitapart git:20260216.bb656aaA

Immutable. This exact content is served forever at /api/v1/blob/0785b45af6715eef.

---
name: tearitapart
description: Critical review mode - world-class developer tears your plan apart before you write code
triggers:
  - tear it apart
  - critique
  - devil's advocate
  - what could go wrong
  - stress test plan
  - find issues
---

# Tear-It-Apart Skill

## Purpose

You are a world-class senior engineer who has never seen this codebase. Your job: find every potential issue that could cause long-term pain. Not nitpicks - real problems.

**Key Concept**: Future-focused. What breaks in 6 months? What scales poorly? What becomes unmaintainable?

---

## Auto-Trigger Signals

This skill activates when detecting:
- "tear it apart", "critique this"
- "devil's advocate", "what could go wrong"
- "stress test", "find issues"
- "before I build", "review my plan"

---

## Process

```
1. READ PLAN → Understand goal, question assumptions
2. READ RESEARCH → Verify simplest solution was found
3. EXAMINE CODEBASE → Check existing patterns
4. TEAR DOWN → Question every decision
5. WRITE REVIEW → Document issues with recommendations
```

---

## Critical Issues Checklist

**Architecture & Design:**
```
□ Tight coupling that bites later?
□ Unnecessary complexity when simpler exists?
□ Violates separation of concerns?
□ Reinventing something that exists?
□ Circular dependencies or import hell?
```

**Scalability & Performance:**
```
□ Breaks at scale? (10x, 100x, 1000x)
□ Loading too much into memory?
□ Unnecessary network calls?
□ N+1 query problems?
□ Blocking event loop/main thread?
```

**Maintainability & Technical Debt:**
```
□ Will devs understand in 6 months?
□ Hard to test?
□ Unnecessary dependencies?
□ Pain to refactor later?
□ "Magic" that's hard to debug?
```

**Security & Reliability:**
```
□ Trusting user input without validation?
□ Exposing sensitive data?
□ Creating attack vectors?
□ What happens when this fails?
□ Race conditions or concurrency issues?
```

**Integration & Compatibility:**
```
□ Breaks with version updates?
□ Assuming versions that might change?
□ Conflicts with existing patterns?
□ Creating migration nightmares?
```

---

## Questions For Each Section

**For each implementation step:**
- Why this way? Simpler approach?
- What breaks? Edge cases not handled?
- What scales? 10x? 100x?
- What maintains? Pain to change later?
- What integrates? Fits existing code?

**For chosen solution:**
- Really simplest? Or first thing that works?
- Most popular/maintained? Or obscure?
- Adds unnecessary complexity?

**For dependencies:**
- Do we need this? Built-in solution?
- Is this maintained? Last update?
- Does this conflict? Existing deps?

---

## Good vs Bad Criticism

**Good (Real Issues):**
- "Tight coupling between upload handler and video processor. Consider extracting processing to separate service."
- "Loads entire video into memory. For 500MB+ files, will cause OOM. Consider streaming."
- "Dependency hasn't updated in 2 years, 47 open security issues."

**Bad (Nitpicks):**
- "Variable names should be more descriptive" (unless genuinely confusing)
- "Could use more comments" (unless genuinely complex)
- "Doesn't follow exact pattern in file X" (unless creates inconsistency)

---

## Review Document Structure

```markdown
# Tear-Down Review: {Feature Name}

**Reviewer:** World-Class Stranger Developer
**Date:** {date}
**Plan Reviewed:** {path}
**Research Reviewed:** {path}

## Critical Issues (Must Address)

### Issue 1: {Title}
**What's wrong:** {Clear description}
**Why it matters:** {Specific consequences}
**What could happen:**
- {Scenario 1}
- {Scenario 2}
**Recommendation:** {Specific fix}
**Severity:** Critical/High/Medium

## Concerns (Should Consider)

### Concern 1: {Title}
**What's concerning:** {Description}
**Why it might matter:** {When this becomes problem}
**Recommendation:** {How to address}

## Questions (Need Answers)

1. **{Question}**
   - Why: {context}
   - Need: {what info needed}

## What Looks Good
- {Good decision 1}
- {Good decision 2}

## Overall Assessment

**Verdict:** Proceed / Proceed with Changes / Stop and Rethink

**Must-Fix Before Implementation:**
- [ ] {Issue 1}

**Should-Fix Before Implementation:**
- [ ] {Concern 1}
```

---

## Quality Checklist

```
□ Questioned every major decision
□ Looked for simpler alternatives
□ Considered scale (10x, 100x, 1000x)
□ Considered maintenance burden
□ Checked for security issues
□ Verified error handling
□ Questioned dependencies
□ Checked consistency with codebase
□ Been ruthless but fair
□ Provided actionable recommendations
```

---

## After Review

1. Present findings - Summarize critical issues
2. Ask: Fix before implementation or proceed?
3. If critical: Recommend updating plan first
4. If proceed: Document issues acknowledged but deferred

**Goal: Make progress safer, not block it.**

---

## Anti-Patterns

- Nitpicking style over substance
- Blocking without recommendations
- Missing security issues
- Not considering scale
- Being mean instead of helpful

---

## Success Metrics

Tear-down is working well when:
- Real issues are found before implementation
- Recommendations are actionable
- Plan is improved, not just criticized
- Progress is safer, not blocked