before-you-build
Pre-build product and feature risk review for founders, product managers, and AI-assisted builders. Use this skill when the user is about to build a landing page, MVP, SaaS product, internal tool, agent workflow, or major feature and needs to check demand, positioning, monetization, retention, trust, distribution, and adoption risk before implementation starts.
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wshobson/agents /tmp/before-you-build && cp -r /tmp/before-you-build/plugins/before-you-build/skills/before-you-build ~/.claude/skills/before-you-buildSKILL.md
# Before You Build Run a compact pre-mortem before implementation. The goal is not to block building; it is to identify the highest-risk assumption, the smallest validation step, and the build scope that should be delayed until evidence improves. ## When To Use Use this skill when a user asks to build or ship: - A new product, MVP, prototype, landing page, SaaS app, marketplace, content site, agent workflow, or internal tool - A major feature with unclear adoption, revenue, retention, trust, or distribution impact - A public launch asset where weak positioning could waste development or promotion effort Skip this skill when the task is a narrow implementation fix, refactor, test repair, dependency update, or already-validated change with clear acceptance criteria. ## Risk Checklist Review the idea across these risks: - **Demand:** Is there evidence that a specific buyer or user urgently wants this? - **Positioning:** Can the target user understand what it is and why it matters in one sentence? - **Monetization:** Is there a credible path to payment, budget, or strategic value? - **Retention:** Is there a reason users would return after the first try? - **Trust:** Does the product require credibility, data access, integrations, or behavior change that users may resist? - **Distribution:** Is there a repeatable way to reach the target user? - **Feature adoption:** For feature work, will the feature change user behavior or just add surface area? If the verdict is not obvious, use `references/risk-checklist.md` for deeper questions. ## Output Format Keep the response short and decision-oriented: 1. **Risk verdict:** Low, medium, or high risk, with one sentence explaining why. 2. **Main assumption:** The single assumption most likely to break the project. 3. **Evidence to find first:** The smallest useful signal before building more. 4. **Do next:** One concrete validation step or reduced build scope. 5. **Delay:** What not to build yet. ## Guidance - Be direct about weak evidence, but avoid dismissing the user's idea. - Prefer smaller validation steps over large research plans. - Separate product risk from engineering difficulty. - If the idea is already validated, say what evidence makes it lower risk and suggest the smallest implementation slice. - If facts are missing, name the missing evidence instead of inventing market claims.
Test web applications with screen readers including VoiceOver, NVDA, and JAWS. Use when validating screen reader compatibility, debugging accessibility issues, or ensuring assistive technology support.
Conduct WCAG 2.2 accessibility audits with automated testing, manual verification, and remediation guidance. Use when auditing websites for accessibility, fixing WCAG violations, or implementing accessible design patterns.
Coordinate parallel code reviews across multiple quality dimensions with finding deduplication, severity calibration, and consolidated reporting. Use this skill when organizing multi-reviewer code reviews, calibrating finding severity, or consolidating review results.
Debug complex issues using competing hypotheses with parallel investigation, evidence collection, and root cause arbitration. Use this skill when debugging bugs with multiple potential causes, performing root cause analysis, or organizing parallel investigation workflows.
Coordinate parallel feature development with file ownership strategies, conflict avoidance rules, and integration patterns for multi-agent implementation. Use this skill when decomposing a large feature into independent work streams, when two or more agents need to implement different layers of the same system simultaneously, when establishing file ownership to prevent merge conflicts in a shared codebase, when designing interface contracts so parallel implementers can build against each other's APIs before they are ready, or when deciding whether to use vertical slices versus horizontal layers for a full-stack feature.
Decompose complex tasks, design dependency graphs, and coordinate multi-agent work with proper task descriptions and workload balancing. Use this skill when breaking down work for agent teams, managing task dependencies, or monitoring team progress.
Structured messaging protocols for agent team communication including message type selection, plan approval, shutdown procedures, and anti-patterns to avoid. Use this skill when establishing communication norms for a newly spawned team, when deciding whether to send a direct message or a broadcast, when a team-lead needs to review and approve an implementer's plan before work begins, when orchestrating a graceful team shutdown after all tasks are complete, or when debugging why teammates are not coordinating correctly at integration points.
Design optimal agent team compositions with sizing heuristics, preset configurations, and agent type selection. Use this skill when deciding how many agents to spawn for a task, when choosing between a review team versus a feature team versus a debug team, when selecting the correct subagent_type for each role to ensure agents have the tools they need, when configuring display modes (tmux, iTerm2, in-process) for a CI or local environment, or when building a custom team composition for a non-standard workflow such as a migration or security audit.