devils-advocate SKILL.md skillA
devils-advocate from tomzx/agents is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add tomzx/agents/devils-advocate@git:20261007.b35fc4bPins git:20261007.b35fc4b in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- tomzx/agents
- Path
skills/devils-advocate/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 4
- Latest version
- git:20261007.b35fc4b, committed Oct 7, 2026
- First version recorded
- Aug 26, 2026
- Size
- 8,189 bytes
- Repository stars
- 12
- License
- MIT
Challenge an idea, plan, decision, or argument by constructing the strongest case against it. Use when the user says /devils-advocate, "challenge me", "play devil's advocate", "what am I missing", "steelman the other side", "poke holes in this", or wants stress-testing before committing.
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# Devil's Advocate Takes the user's position and constructs the strongest possible case against it, then surfaces assumptions, risks, blind spots, and alternatives the user may not have considered. The goal is not to win an argument but to find the weak points before they cause a problem. If the position survives serious challenge, the user proceeds with confidence; if it does not, they learn that now instead of later. ## Prerequisites - A position to challenge: an idea, plan, decision, proposal, argument, or course of action provided as an argument, in context, or via file paths. - No codebase access required, though if the position involves code or architecture, read the relevant files to ground the challenge in reality rather than speculation. ## How to Be a Useful Adversary - **Steel-man, do not straw-man.** Construct the strongest version of the opposing view, not a weak one that is easy to knock down. The user benefits from the best counterarguments, not the easiest. - **Be specific, not generic.** "This might fail" is useless; "this fails if the API rate limit is hit during peak hours because the retry logic has no backoff" is useful. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add tomzx/agents/devils-advocate@sha256:9b4a87fa225f8556The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261007.b35fc4b, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_hlecvujajxixiwtd)
3 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 4 versions of this file, between Aug 26, 2026 and Oct 7, 2026, about one every 14 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20261007.b35fc4b latest | 2026-10-07 | b35fc4b | 8,189 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261005.8154ecd | 2026-10-05 | 8154ecd | 8,161 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20261004.00bb0c5 | 2026-10-04 | 00bb0c5 | 8,293 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260826.e878180 | 2026-08-26 | e878180 | 8,285 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (8189 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
tomzx/agents · 12 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-21 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_hlecvujajxixiwtd GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=tomzx/agents/devils-advocate GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/9b4a87fa225f85565db46c3ad669b45bf69639819a1102496cc029d602c36ef8
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.