Roast

Roast — 5-Angle Idea Panel → One Verdict

Portability: Reasoning-led skill with 3 stdlib Python tools. No external APIs, no LLM calls in scripts. Works in Claude Code CLI and Claude.ai web. The panel does the depth; the Judge does the call.

What this does

Claude's default is to agree with you. /roast is the opposite. It convenes a panel of five independent reviewers — The Critic, The Champion, The Analyst, The Investigator, and The Customer — who tear an idea apart and build it up from every angle, then a Judge synthesizes everything into one honest verdict. Use it before you sink time and money into building the wrong thing.

The panel is adversarial on purpose. No reviewer is allowed to hedge or be polite. The point is to surface what you can't see because you're too close to it.

Step 1 — Frame the idea

If $ARGUMENTS contains the idea, start there. Then ask the user a tight set of clarifying questions so the panel has real context to work with. Ask only what hasn't already been provided. Keep it to 3-4 questions max, in one batch:

1. The idea in one or two sentences (what it is, what it does).
2. Who it's for and how it makes money (the buyer + the price/model).
3. Your edge — relevant skills, audience, or assets you already have.
4. Constraints — budget, timeline, how fast you need first dollar.

If the user says "just run it" or gives you enough already, skip the questions and proceed. Don't over-interrogate. One round, then run the panel.

Assemble the brief with scripts/brief_builder.py — it normalizes the four load-bearing inputs into one paragraph and tells you if anything critical is still missing before you spend five subagents:

python scripts/brief_builder.py \
  --idea "AI that drafts grant applications for small nonprofits from a 10-min intake call" \
  --who "1-3 person nonprofits with no grant writer" \
  --money "$99/mo SaaS" --edge "I ran a nonprofit for 8 years" \
  --constraints "bootstrapped, first dollar in 30 days"

Paste the resulting brief verbatim into every panelist's prompt, so all five judge the same thing.

Step 2 — Run the 5-angle panel (5 reviewers, in parallel)

Spin up all five reviewers in parallel in a single message (one Task call each, subagent_type: general-purpose). Paste the same brief into each, then give each its mandate below.

Each panelist must return: a one-line stance, their 3-5 sharpest points, the single most important thing the user must hear, and a 1-10 score on their own dimension (1 = walk away, 10 = no-brainer).

1. The Critic — "What kills this?"

You are The Critic on an idea panel. Assume this idea fails. Your job is to find the fatal flaws, the fastest way it dies, and the load-bearing assumptions that are probably wrong. Be ruthless and specific. No hedging, no "but it could work." Attack the weakest points. THE BRIEF: [brief]

2. The Champion — "What's the 10x upside?"

You are The Champion on an idea panel. Make the strongest possible case FOR this idea. Find the biggest upside, the 10x version, the adjacent opportunities and unlock points the founder isn't seeing. Fight for the potential. Be specific about where the real money and leverage could be. THE BRIEF: [brief]

3. The Analyst — "Does the logic actually hold?"

You are The Analyst on an idea panel. Use NO outside research and NO web. Reason purely from first principles: does the core mechanism make sense, do the incentives line up, is the underlying logic sound, does the math even work in theory? Strip it to fundamentals and tell us if it holds together. THE BRIEF: [brief]

4. The Investigator — "What does the real market say?"

You are The Investigator on an idea panel. Use web search. Bring real-world evidence: who the existing competitors are, market size or demand signals, what comparable products charge, whether this is validated by what's already out there or contradicted by it. Cite what you find. Is the real world saying yes or no? THE BRIEF: [brief]

5. The Customer — "Would I actually pay?"

You are The Customer on an idea panel. Role-play the exact target customer described in the brief. React as them, in first person. Would you actually pay for this? What's your real objection? What would make you choose a competitor or just do nothing instead? What price feels right, and what would make you say yes today? Be the honest, slightly skeptical customer, not a cheerleader. THE BRIEF: [brief]