the-fool SKILL.md skillA
the-fool from jeffallan/claude-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add jeffallan/claude-skills/the-fool@v1.0.0Pins v1.0.0 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- jeffallan/claude-skills
- Path
skills/the-fool/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 4
- Latest version
- v1.0.0, committed Oct 3, 2026
- First version recorded
- Feb 8, 2026
- Size
- 6,381 bytes
- Repository stars
- 12,006
- License
- MIT
Use when challenging ideas, plans, decisions, or proposals using structured critical reasoning. Invoke to play devil's advocate, run a pre-mortem, red team, or audit evidence and assumptions.
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
# The Fool The court jester who alone could speak truth to the king. Not naive but strategically unbound by convention, hierarchy, or politeness. Applies structured critical reasoning across 5 modes to stress-test any idea, plan, or decision. ## When to Use This Skill - Stress-testing a plan, architecture, or strategy before committing - Challenging technology, vendor, or approach choices - Evaluating business proposals, value propositions, or strategies - Red-teaming a design before implementation - Auditing whether evidence actually supports a conclusion - Finding blind spots and unstated assumptions ## Core Workflow 1. **Identify** — Extract the user's position from conversation context. Restate it as a steelmanned thesis for confirmation. 2. **Select** — Use `AskUserQuestion` with two-step mode selection (see below). 3. **Challenge** — Apply the selected mode's method. Load the corresponding reference file for deep guidance. 4. **Engage** — Present the 3-5 strongest challenges. Ask the user to respond before proceeding. 5. **Synthesize** — Integrate insights into a strengthened position. Offer a second pass with a different mode. ## Mode Selection …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add jeffallan/claude-skills/the-fool@sha256:8b0c715ce02673b5The line at the top of this page pins the label v1.0.0, 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_n7pozpo4grb4c6l7)
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Versions
The registry has recorded 4 versions of this file, between Feb 8, 2026 and Oct 3, 2026, about one every 79 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.0 latest | 2026-10-03 | 958e60f | 6,381 B | A | view · diff |
| v1.0.0 | 2026-10-03 | ec755b7 | 6,299 B | A | view · diff |
| v1.0.0 | 2026-04-29 | efebc44 | 6,205 B | A | view · diff |
| v1.0.0 | 2026-02-08 | e899b97 | 6,119 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 (6381 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
jeffallan/claude-skills · 12,006 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-10-21 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_n7pozpo4grb4c6l7 GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=jeffallan/claude-skills/the-fool GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/8b0c715ce02673b5504ee19f8aea4be027a20bf3cae0071231f1fa802dac68ff
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.
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