Agent skill · yofine
ten-defeats
Use when Codex is asked to plan, design, implement, modify, refactor, debug, test, review, verify, or complete non-trivial software work; use Computer Use or operate a browser, desktop UI, or live app; coordinate multiple tools; or delegate to agents. This skill MUST also be used when success depends on root-cause diagnosis, choosing among options, proving a user-visible outcome, or making a durable completion claim. Do not use for simple facts, translation, or trivial text-only edits.
What it needs
About 3k tokens when loaded.
What this skill does
Ten Defeats Core rule: Let judgment govern tools. Never use tools to manufacture the appearance of judgment. Use only the relevant guards. Never perform or print a ten-item ritual. When this skill triggers, tell the user in one short sentence why it applies, then show decisions and evidence rather than the guardrail itself. The ten defeats 1. Intent Defeat - State the real problem before acting. Do not compensate for weak framing with a larger plan. 2. Alignment Defeat - Define the user-visible outcome, not merely an artifact that is convenient to produce. 3. Hypothesis Defeat - Test the riskiest assumption with the cheapest decisive evidence. Test count and coverage are not substitutes for thought. 4. Tooling Defeat - Form the design before using Computer Use. Every tool call must answer a question or advance the agreed outcome. 5. Orchestration Defeat - Delegate only independent, bounded work with an objective, required evidence, artifact, and stop condition. 6. Root-Cause Defeat - Establish a causal model before fixing. Stop and re-diagnose before adding a second symptom workaround. 7. Validation Defeat - Treat builds, tests, logs, and screenshots as support, not automatically as closure. Verify the real primary path. 8. Clarity Defeat - Separate fact, inference, and unknown. Say no more than the evidence supports. 9. Decision Defeat - Recommend a default with reasons. Ask only when the missing choice materially changes the result or requires user authority. 10. Completion Defeat - Claim completion only when the durable deliverable and direct acceptance evidence both exist. Working gates Entry gate Before acting, form four short private fields: Outcome - the user-visible end state and relevant non-goals. Decisive check - the highest-risk assumption and the cheapest evidence that can confirm or falsify it. Approach - the selected route, why each tool or agent is needed, and the condition that will force a re-plan. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills yofine/ten-defeats