Agent skill

Critic Cache

by closedloop-ai in closedloop-ai/claude-plugins

Check if critic reviews are still valid before re-running Phase 2.5 critics.

Apache-2.0Auto-check: notes

Install Critic Cache

skills CLI

$ npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install closedloop-ai/claude-plugins critic-cache --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache .claude/skills/critic-cache && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.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/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "critic-cache" agent skill from https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache into .claude/skills/critic-cache/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "critic-cache", 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

$skill-installer install https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache

Type 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.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install closedloop-ai/claude-plugins critic-cache --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache .agents/skills/critic-cache && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "critic-cache" agent skill from https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache into .agents/skills/critic-cache/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "critic-cache", 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.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install closedloop-ai/claude-plugins critic-cache --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache .cursor/skills/critic-cache && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "critic-cache" agent skill from https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache into .cursor/skills/critic-cache/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "critic-cache", 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

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.git --path plugins/code/skills/critic-cache

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install closedloop-ai/claude-plugins critic-cache --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache .gemini/skills/critic-cache && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.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/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "critic-cache" agent skill from https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache into .gemini/skills/critic-cache/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "critic-cache", 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.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install closedloop-ai/claude-plugins critic-cache

Installs 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).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache .github/skills/critic-cache && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.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/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "critic-cache" agent skill from https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache into .github/skills/critic-cache/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "critic-cache", 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.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install closedloop-ai/claude-plugins critic-cache --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache .opencode/skills/critic-cache && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "critic-cache" agent skill from https://github.com/closedloop-ai/claude-plugins/tree/main/plugins/code/skills/critic-cache into .opencode/skills/critic-cache/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "critic-cache", 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: critic-cache
GitHub stars: 122
Token cost: ~528 tokens
SKILL.md length: 176 words
Files: 2 (incl. scripts)
Skills in repo: 43
Repo updated: Oct 7, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Check if critic reviews are still valid before re-running Phase 2.5 critics.

Works in 4 steps: plan.json exists → reviews/ directory exists with at least… → reviews/.plan-hash exists → …
: entering Phase 2.5
SKILL.md covers When to Use, Usage, Interpreting Output and How Freshness Works, plus 1 more section
Runs Shell scripts from its folder; calls bash

What it does

Critic Cache is an agent skill from closedloop-ai/claude-plugins. Check if critic reviews are still valid before re-running Phase 2.5 critics. Compares plan.json + critic-gates.json content hash against stored hash from last critic run. Triggers on: entering Phase 2.5, checking critic cache, before launching critics. Returns CRITICCACHEHIT to skip critics or CRITICCACHEMISS to re-run them.

Its SKILL.md is about 530 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 2 other files, including scripts (for example `scripts/check_critic_cache.sh`).

The repository describes itself as: Open-source Claude Code plugins for multi-agent software delivery. Plan-first SDLC workflow, code review, LLM quality judges, and self-learning — grounded in your codebase… The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

: entering Phase 2.5
Checking critic cache
Before launching critics

Example prompts

“/critic-cache”

Requirements

A Bash shell
Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Bash

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

plan.json exists
reviews/ directory exists with at least 1 .review.json file
reviews/.plan-hash exists
Current combined hash matches stored hash

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 0e20ac0. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:
- Bash
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Ships 1 file in scripts/ (Shell), which the agent can run.
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- bash
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
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

Critic Cache loads about 528 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 86 tokens; SKILL.md has 176 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~86
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~528

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: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
```
allowed-tools: Bash
```

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); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from closedloop-ai/claude-plugins at commit 0e20ac0, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© closedloop-ai). 176 words, ~528 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/critic-cache/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 1 other file; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: critic-cache
description: Check if critic reviews are still valid before re-running Phase 2.5 critics. Compares plan.json + critic-gates.json content hash against stored hash from last critic run. Triggers on: entering Phase 2.5, checking critic cache, before launching critics. Returns CRITIC_CACHE_HIT to skip critics or CRITIC_CACHE_MISS to re-run them.
allowed-tools: Bash
context: fork

Critic Cache

Check whether prior critic reviews are still valid, avoiding redundant Sonnet agent launches when the plan hasn't changed since the last critic run.

When to Use

Activate this skill at the start of Phase 2.5 (Critic Validation), before launching any critic agents. If the cache is fresh, skip the entire critic phase.

Usage

Run the cache check script:

bash

bash ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/check_critic_cache.sh <WORKDIR>

Interpreting Output

Cache Hit

CRITIC_CACHE_HIT

Action: Skip all critic agent launches. Proceed directly to Phase 2.6 (or Phase 2.7 if no merge is needed). The existing $WORKDIR/reviews/*.review.json files are still valid.

Cache Miss

CRITIC_CACHE_MISS
reason: <why the cache is stale or missing>

Action: Run critics as normal. After all critics complete, stamp the cache:

bash

if [ -f ".closedloop-ai/settings/critic-gates.json" ]; then
  cat $WORKDIR/plan.json .closedloop-ai/settings/critic-gates.json | shasum -a 256 > $WORKDIR/reviews/.plan-hash
else
  shasum -a 256 $WORKDIR/plan.json > $WORKDIR/reviews/.plan-hash
fi

How Freshness Works

The script hashes both plan.json and .closedloop-ai/settings/critic-gates.json (if it exists) into a single combined hash. This ensures:

Plan content changes → cache miss → critics re-run
Critic configuration changes (adding/removing critics) → cache miss → critics re-run
No changes → cache hit → critics skipped

Cache Conditions

Cache hit requires ALL of:

plan.json exists
reviews/ directory exists with at least 1 .review.json file
reviews/.plan-hash exists
Current combined hash matches stored hash

Files

SKILL.md and 1 other file (scripts) in plugins/code/skills/critic-cache of closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.

SKILL.md
scripts/check_critic_cache.sh

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 0e20ac0

Compare with similar skills

Critic Cache 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.

Critic Cache compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Critic Cache this skillclosedloop-ai/claude-plugins	122	—	~528	Automated safety check: Notes	Apache-2.0	today
Content-Hash File Cache Patternaffaan-m/ECC	274k	5 repos	~1.4k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	2 days ago
Prompt Cachingdavila7/claude-code-templates	32k	5 repos	~452	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Turborepo Cachingwshobson/agents	40k	8 repos	~2k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	2 days ago
OmniRoute LLM Cachediegosouzapw/OmniRoute	74k	1 repos	~529	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Cachingzebbern/claude-code-guide	4.6k	—	~1.5k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today

Similar skills

Content-Hash File Cache Pattern
affaan-m/ECC
Caches slow file processing results in Python keyed by a SHA-256 hash of the file content, so renames still hit the cache and edits invalidate it automatically.
274k GitHub starsUsed in 5 repos~1.4k tokens
DevelopmentAuto-check passed
Prompt Caching
davila7/claude-code-templates
Caching strategies for LLM prompts including Anthropic prompt caching, response caching, and CAG (Cache Augmented Generation) Use when: prompt caching, cache prompt, response cache, cag, cache…
32k GitHub starsUsed in 5 repos~452 tokens
Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
Turborepo Caching
wshobson/agents
Configures Turborepo pipelines and local or remote caching for monorepo builds, including Vercel remote cache, a self-hosted cache and cache-miss debugging.
40k GitHub starsUsed in 8 repos~2k tokens
DevelopmentAuto-check: notes
OmniRoute LLM Cache
diegosouzapw/OmniRoute
Documents OmniRoute's cache endpoints for reading cache statistics and clearing entries, statistics or the reasoning cache, with notes on TTL and similarity settings.
74k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~529 tokens
Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
Caching
zebbern/claude-code-guide
Caching strategies — invalidation, TTL guidelines, cache keys, cache layers, and when not to cache.
4.6k GitHub stars~1.5k tokensUpdated today
Backend & APIsAuto-check passed
Browser Caching
thedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist
A skill your agent uses when auditing slow page loads, heavy assets, or rendering delays related to Enable browser caching.
74k GitHub stars~399 tokensUpdated yesterday
Backend & APIsAuto-check passed

More from closedloop-ai/claude-plugins

All 43 skills in this repo

Codex Review
closedloop-ai/claude-plugins
Run Codex to review a plan file and return structured feedback with a verdict.
122 GitHub stars~1.4k tokensUpdated today
Auto-check: notes
Cross Repo Cache
closedloop-ai/claude-plugins
Check if cross-repo coordinator results can be reused, avoiding redundant Sonnet agent launches.
122 GitHub stars~683 tokensUpdated today
Auto-check: notes
Eval Cache
closedloop-ai/claude-plugins
Check for a cached plan-evaluation.json result before launching the plan-evaluator agent.
122 GitHub stars~516 tokensUpdated today
Auto-check: notes
Find Plugin File
closedloop-ai/claude-plugins
This skill should be used when needing to locate files within the Claude Code plugins cache directory (~/.claude/plugins/cache).
122 GitHub stars~812 tokensUpdated today
Auto-check passed
Gh Monitor PR
closedloop-ai/claude-plugins
Start a detached GitHub pull-request monitor that wakes the exact launching Codex Desktop or CLI root through the managed Codex App Server when review, CI, conflict, merge-queue, closure, readiness…
122 GitHub stars~5.1k tokensUpdated today
Auto-check passed
Handoff
closedloop-ai/claude-plugins
Finish a vibe session in symphony-alpha and hand it to design, then engineering.
122 GitHub stars~2.9k tokensUpdated today
Auto-check passed

Questions about Critic Cache

What does Critic Cache do?

Check if critic reviews are still valid before re-running Phase 2.5 critics. Critic Cache is an agent skill from closedloop-ai/claude-plugins.5 critics.

When should I use Critic Cache?

Critic Cache fits situations like: : entering Phase 2.5; checking critic cache; before launching critics.

How do I install Critic Cache in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/code/skills/critic-cache in closedloop-ai/claude-plugins) into .claude/skills/critic-cache in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Critic Cache in Codex?

Run `npx skills add closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/code/skills/critic-cache in closedloop-ai/claude-plugins) into .agents/skills/critic-cache in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Critic Cache 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 closedloop-ai/claude-plugins --skill critic-cache -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/critic-cache, .gemini/skills/critic-cache, .github/skills/critic-cache and .opencode/skills/critic-cache in your project.

What does Critic Cache need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Critic Cache needs a shell for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (bash). Our summary lists: A Bash shell. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Bash.

Does Critic Cache access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Critic Cache safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: bash)), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Critic Cache use?

Critic Cache is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Critic Cache use?

About 528 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.1k 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 Critic Cache?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Critic Cache: Content-Hash File Cache Pattern (affaan-m/ECC, 274k stars), Prompt Caching (davila7/claude-code-templates, 32k stars), Turborepo Caching (wshobson/agents, 40k stars) and OmniRoute LLM Cache (diegosouzapw/OmniRoute, 74k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Critic Cache?

closedloop-ai (a GitHub organization) maintains it in closedloop-ai/claude-plugins, which has 122 GitHub stars. The repository holds 43 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: closedloop-ai/claude-plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Critic Cache

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Critic Cache

When to Use

Usage

Interpreting Output

Cache Hit

Cache Miss

How Freshness Works

Cache Conditions

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from closedloop-ai/claude-plugins

Questions about Critic Cache