Architect Before You Build
jsmastery-pro/jsm-agent-skill
Runs a short design conversation before coding: aligns on terms, works through the decisions that matter and ends with a plan you confirm.
Guides when to ask clarifying questions versus proceed autonomously.
Install Decisive Action
$ npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install athola/claude-night-market decisive-action --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action .claude/skills/decisive-action && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "decisive-action" agent skill from https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action into .claude/skills/decisive-action/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "decisive-action", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-actionType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install athola/claude-night-market decisive-action --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action .agents/skills/decisive-action && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "decisive-action" agent skill from https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action into .agents/skills/decisive-action/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "decisive-action", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install athola/claude-night-market decisive-action --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action .cursor/skills/decisive-action && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "decisive-action" agent skill from https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action into .cursor/skills/decisive-action/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "decisive-action", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market.git --path plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install athola/claude-night-market decisive-action --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action .gemini/skills/decisive-action && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "decisive-action" agent skill from https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action into .gemini/skills/decisive-action/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "decisive-action", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install athola/claude-night-market decisive-actionInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action .github/skills/decisive-action && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "decisive-action" agent skill from https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action into .github/skills/decisive-action/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "decisive-action", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install athola/claude-night-market decisive-action --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action .opencode/skills/decisive-action && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "decisive-action" agent skill from https://github.com/athola/claude-night-market/tree/master/plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action into .opencode/skills/decisive-action/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "decisive-action", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
decisive-action- GitHub stars
- 342
- Token cost
- ~1.4k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 555 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 159
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Guides when to ask clarifying questions versus proceed autonomously.
- Works in 4 steps: Dry-run/Preview: Show proposed action… → Backup First: Create git branch, backup… → Incremental Changes: Commit small,… → …
- Reduce unnecessary clarifying questions when intent is clear
- SKILL.md covers When To Use, When NOT To Use, Core Principle and When to Ask (High Impact…, plus 8 more sections
- Calls git
What it does
Decisive Action is an agent skill from athola/claude-night-market. Guides when to ask clarifying questions versus proceed autonomously. Use to reduce unnecessary clarifying questions when intent is clear.
Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Agent Workflows, covering Requirements gathering. The repository describes itself as: 23 Claude Code plugins: TDD enforcement hooks, git/PR workflows, spec-driven development, code review, project lifecycle, fix-from-error, maintenance automation, context… The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- Reduce unnecessary clarifying questions when intent is clear
- Tasks that involve Requirements gathering
Example prompts
- “Use the decisive-action skill to guide when to ask clarifying questions versus proceed autonomously”
- “/decisive-action”
Workflow steps
4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Dry-run/Preview: Show proposed action before executing
- Backup First: Create git branch, backup directory
- Incremental Changes: Commit small, reviewable chunks
- Document Assumptions: In commit message or PR description
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 9f3eb00. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
git
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Decisive Action loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 38 tokens; SKILL.md has 555 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from athola/claude-night-market at commit 9f3eb00, republished under its MIT licence (© athola). 555 words, ~1,416 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/decisive-action/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- decisive-action
- description
- Guides when to ask clarifying questions versus proceed autonomously. Use to reduce unnecessary clarifying questions when intent is clear.
- alwaysApply
- false
- category
- workflow
- tags
- efficiency, workflow, decision-making
- complexity
- low
- model_hint
- fast
- estimated_tokens
- 450
Decisive Action
Guidance on when to ask clarifying questions versus proceeding autonomously.
When To Use
- Reducing unnecessary clarifying questions
- Taking autonomous action when intent is clear
When NOT To Use
- High-stakes irreversible operations requiring explicit confirmation
- Ambiguous requirements where clarification prevents wasted work
Core Principle
Ask questions only when ambiguity would materially impair correctness or capacity to fulfill the request precisely.
When to Ask (High Impact Ambiguity)
Always Ask For
| Scenario | Why | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Destructive Operations | Irreversible, high cost of error | "Delete which files?" |
| Multiple Valid Approaches | Materially different tradeoffs | "Add index vs cache vs denormalize?" |
| Security-Critical | Wrong choice = vulnerability | "Which auth method?" |
| Data Migration | Data loss risk | "Preserve or transform?" |
| Breaking Changes | Affects downstream users | "Deprecate or remove?" |
Ask Threshold Checklist
Before asking, verify:
- >30% chance of wrong interpretation
- Error cost > correction cost
- No clear standard approach exists
- User context doesn't clarify intent
When to Proceed Without Asking
Default to Action For
| Scenario | Why | Assumption |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Approach Exists | Industry convention | Use conventional pattern |
| Easily Reversible | Low cost of error | Can undo via git/backup |
| Clear from Context | Intent is obvious | Proceed with stated goal |
| User Can Review | PR/dry-run available | Changes are inspectable |
Proceed Threshold Checklist
Proceed without asking if:
- Standard/obvious solution exists
- Easily reversible (git, backup)
- User can review before finalize
- Context makes intent clear
- Error cost < interruption cost
Decision Matrix
| Reversibility | Ambiguity | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Reversible | Low | Proceed |
| Reversible | High | Proceed with preview |
| Irreversible | Low | Proceed with confirmation |
| Irreversible | High | Ask |
Safety Mechanisms
Before Proceeding Autonomously
- Dry-run/Preview: Show proposed action before executing
- Backup First: Create git branch, backup directory
- Incremental Changes: Commit small, reviewable chunks
- Document Assumptions: In commit message or PR description
Undo Capability
Always ensure rollback is possible:
- Git operations:
git stash, backup branches - File operations: Copy before modify
- Data operations: Transaction rollback
Examples
Example: Should Ask
User: "Delete the old files"
Analysis:
- Destructive operation ✗
- Multiple interpretations ✗
- No clear standard ✗
Response:
Which files should I delete? I found:
- Files unchanged >6 months: 23 files
- Files in deprecated/: 5 files
- Files marked TODO remove: 2 filesExample: Should Proceed
User: "Add error handling to the parser"
Analysis:
- Standard approach exists ✓
- Easily reversible (git) ✓
- User can review PR ✓
Action: Implement try/catch with logging, create PR.
Show full SKILL.md (212 more words)Show less
Example: Proceed with Preview
User: "Refactor the API layer"
Analysis:
- Multiple valid approaches
- BUT: reversible via git
- AND: user can review
Action:
Refactoring API layer. Proposed changes:
1. Extract authentication middleware
2. Standardize error responses
3. Add request validation
Creating branch: refactor/api-layer
Preview diff available before merge.Anti-Patterns
Asking Too Much (Inefficient)
- Asking for every implementation detail
- Seeking validation for obvious choices
- Repeating questions already answered in context
Asking Too Little (Risky)
- Proceeding with destructive actions silently
- Assuming intent when multiple valid interpretations exist
- Ignoring ambiguity in security-critical operations
Integration
Combine with:
conserve:response-compression- Direct communicationsanctum:git-workspace-review- Context gatheringimbue:scope-guard- Scope management
Quick Reference
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| "Delete X" | Ask which X |
| "Add feature" | Proceed with standard approach |
| "Fix bug" | Proceed with obvious fix |
| "Choose between A/B" | Ask for preference |
| "Optimize query" | Ask if multiple approaches |
| "Format code" | Proceed with project style |
| "Deploy to prod" | Ask for confirmation |
Exit Criteria
- Every proposed autonomous action checked against the Decision Matrix: reversibility and ambiguity axes produce an explicit "Proceed", "Proceed with preview", or "Ask" verdict
- Irreversible operations (destructive deletes, data migrations, breaking changes) never executed without at least one clarifying question regardless of apparent intent clarity
- When proceeding autonomously, one of the four safety mechanisms is applied: dry-run/preview, backup, incremental commits, or documented assumptions in the commit message
- No clarifying question asked for scenarios in the "Default to Action" table where standard approach exists and changes are easily reversible via git
© athola, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action of athola/claude-night-market.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 9f3eb00
Compare with similar skills
Decisive Action next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decisive Action this skillathola/claude-night-market | 342 | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Architect Before You Buildjsmastery-pro/jsm-agent-skill | 218 | — | ~1.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Using LoopkitArchive228/loopkit | 756 | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Iterative Development Orchestratorprime-radiant-inc/iterative-development | 181 | — | ~2.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Deep Divebyungjunjang/jangpm-meta-skills | 121 | — | ~2.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Grill Menrwl/nx | 29k | — | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Grill Me
nrwl/nx
Grill the user relentlessly about a plan, design, decision, or set of review findings — working the decision tree in rounds until nothing is left silently assumed.
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Related
Categories
Questions about Decisive Action
What does Decisive Action do?
Guides when to ask clarifying questions versus proceed autonomously. Decisive Action is an agent skill from athola/claude-night-market. Guides when to ask clarifying questions versus proceed autonomously.
When should I use Decisive Action?
Decisive Action fits situations like: reduce unnecessary clarifying questions when intent is clear; tasks that involve Requirements gathering.
How do I install Decisive Action in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action in athola/claude-night-market) into .claude/skills/decisive-action in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Decisive Action in Codex?
Run `npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/conserve/skills/decisive-action in athola/claude-night-market) into .agents/skills/decisive-action in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Decisive Action in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add athola/claude-night-market --skill decisive-action -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/decisive-action, .gemini/skills/decisive-action, .github/skills/decisive-action and .opencode/skills/decisive-action in your project.
What does Decisive Action need to run?
Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Decisive Action needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git).
Does Decisive Action access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Decisive Action safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Decisive Action use?
Decisive Action is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Decisive Action use?
About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Decisive Action?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Decisive Action: Architect Before You Build (jsmastery-pro/jsm-agent-skill, 218 stars), Using Loopkit (Archive228/loopkit, 756 stars), Iterative Development Orchestrator (prime-radiant-inc/iterative-development, 181 stars) and Deep Dive (byungjunjang/jangpm-meta-skills, 121 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Decisive Action?
athola (a GitHub user) maintains it in athola/claude-night-market, which has 342 GitHub stars. The repository holds 159 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.
Source: athola/claude-night-market on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.