Claude Code Agent Development
anthropics/claude-plugins-official
Explains how to write agents for Claude Code plugins: the markdown file with YAML frontmatter, trigger descriptions, model and color settings, and system prompt design.
4-perspective decision evaluation for architecture choices. An agent skill from softspark/ai-toolkit.
Install Council
$ npx skills add softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install softspark/ai-toolkit council --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/softspark/ai-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/app/skills/council .claude/skills/council && 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 "council" agent skill from https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit/tree/main/app/skills/council into .claude/skills/council/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "council", 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/softspark/ai-toolkit/tree/main/app/skills/councilType 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 softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install softspark/ai-toolkit council --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/app/skills/council .agents/skills/council && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "council" agent skill from https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit/tree/main/app/skills/council into .agents/skills/council/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "council", 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 softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install softspark/ai-toolkit council --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/app/skills/council .cursor/skills/council && 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 "council" agent skill from https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit/tree/main/app/skills/council into .cursor/skills/council/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "council", 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/softspark/ai-toolkit.git --path app/skills/council--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 softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install softspark/ai-toolkit council --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/app/skills/council .gemini/skills/council && 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 "council" agent skill from https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit/tree/main/app/skills/council into .gemini/skills/council/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "council", 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 softspark/ai-toolkit councilInstalls 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 softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/app/skills/council .github/skills/council && 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 "council" agent skill from https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit/tree/main/app/skills/council into .github/skills/council/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "council", 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 softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install softspark/ai-toolkit council --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/app/skills/council .opencode/skills/council && 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 "council" agent skill from https://github.com/softspark/ai-toolkit/tree/main/app/skills/council into .opencode/skills/council/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "council", 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
council- GitHub stars
- 179
- Token cost
- ~1.4k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 523 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 112
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
At a glance
4-perspective decision evaluation for architecture choices. An agent skill from softspark/ai-toolkit.
- Works in 4 steps: Parse the Decision → Gather Context → Spawn 4 Sub-Agents in Parallel (REQUIRED) → …
- Tasks that involve Subagents
- SKILL.md covers Usage, What This Command Does, MANDATORY: You MUST use the… and Process, plus 4 more sections
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Council is an agent skill from softspark/ai-toolkit. 4-perspective decision evaluation for architecture choices. Triggers: council, evaluate decision, pros cons, multi-angle, alternatives.
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 Subagents. The repository describes itself as: Professional-grade AI coding toolkit: 94 skills, 44 agents, multi-platform (Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, Gemini, Cline, Roo Code, Aider, Augment, Antigravity, Codex CLI… The licence is Apache-2.0.
When your agent uses it
- Tasks that involve Subagents
Example prompts
- “/council”
Requirements
- Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Agent
Workflow steps
4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit d64db2b. 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:
ReadGrepGlobBashAgent
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).
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
Council loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 36 tokens; SKILL.md has 523 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: 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: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Agent
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 softspark/ai-toolkit at commit d64db2b, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© softspark). 523 words, ~1,350 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/council/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- council
- description
- 4-perspective decision evaluation for architecture choices. Triggers: council, evaluate decision, pros cons, multi-angle, alternatives.
- allowed-tools
- Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Agent
- user-invocable
- true
- effort
- high
- argument-hint
- [decision question or proposal to evaluate]
- agent
- orchestrator
- context
- fork
Decision Council
$ARGUMENTS
Evaluate a decision from 4 distinct perspectives using parallel sub-agents, then synthesize a weighted recommendation.
Usage
/council [decision question or proposal to evaluate]What This Command Does
- Parses the decision question from user input
- Gathers codebase context relevant to the decision
- Spawns 4 parallel sub-agents — each analyzing from a different perspective
- Synthesizes all perspectives into a structured recommendation with decision matrix
MANDATORY: You MUST use the Agent tool
DO NOT analyze the decision yourself. Your job is to parse the question, spawn 4 sub-agents in parallel via the Agent tool, and synthesize their outputs. If you attempt to provide all perspectives inline, you have failed.
Process
1. Parse the Decision
Extract from the user's input:
- The proposal — what is being considered
- The alternatives — what the options are (if not stated, infer the implicit alternative: status quo)
- The context — what project/codebase/situation this applies to
If the question is too vague to evaluate, ask ONE clarifying question before proceeding.
2. Gather Context
Before spawning agents, quickly scan the codebase for relevant context:
- Current tech stack, dependencies, patterns in use
- Existing code related to the decision area
- Configuration, infrastructure, or architectural choices already made
Include this context in each sub-agent prompt so perspectives are grounded in reality.
3. Spawn 4 Sub-Agents in Parallel (REQUIRED)
Call the Agent tool 4 times in a single response — all agents MUST launch in the same message to run in parallel.
| Agent | Role | Directive |
|---|---|---|
| Advocate | Case FOR | Present the strongest case FOR the proposal. Find evidence, benefits, success stories. Reference relevant code/patterns in the codebase. Be persuasive but honest. |
| Critic | Case AGAINST | Present the strongest case AGAINST. Find risks, hidden costs, failure modes, alternatives that might be better. Be thorough but fair. |
| Pragmatist | Trade-offs | Evaluate practical trade-offs: implementation cost, timeline, team capacity, maintenance burden, migration risk, operational complexity. Ground estimates in the actual codebase size and patterns. |
| User-Proxy | User impact | Consider end-user and customer impact: UX changes, downtime during migration, performance implications, breaking changes, adoption friction, documentation needs. |
Each agent prompt MUST include:
- The original decision question
- The codebase context gathered in step 2
- The specific perspective this agent owns
- Instruction to search the codebase for supporting evidence
- Constraint: 200-400 words, concrete evidence over abstract arguments
Show full SKILL.md (150 more words)Show less
4. Synthesize
After all 4 agents complete, combine their outputs into the structured format below. Do NOT simply concatenate — identify agreements, contradictions, and conditional factors across perspectives.
Output Format
## Decision Council: [Question]
### Advocate (FOR)
[Summary of arguments for — key benefits and evidence]
### Critic (AGAINST)
[Summary of arguments against — key risks and alternatives]
### Pragmatist (TRADE-OFFS)
[Practical considerations — cost, timeline, complexity]
### User-Proxy (USER IMPACT)
[End-user perspective — UX, performance, breaking changes]
### Synthesis
**Recommendation:** [FOR / AGAINST / CONDITIONAL]
**Confidence:** [HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW]
**Key condition:** [Primary factor that would change the recommendation]
**Where perspectives agree:** [Common ground across agents]
**Where perspectives conflict:** [Key disagreements and why]
### Decision Matrix
| Factor | Weight | FOR score (1-5) | AGAINST score (1-5) |
|--------|--------|-----------------|---------------------|
| Technical merit | [H/M/L] | [score] | [score] |
| Risk | [H/M/L] | [score] | [score] |
| Cost | [H/M/L] | [score] | [score] |
| Timeline | [H/M/L] | [score] | [score] |
| User impact | [H/M/L] | [score] | [score] |
| **Weighted total** | | **[total]** | **[total]** |Rules
- Each sub-agent must search the codebase for relevant evidence — no purely abstract arguments
- Sub-agents must be honest within their role — the Advocate should acknowledge weaknesses, the Critic should acknowledge strengths
- Keep each perspective to 200-400 words — density over length
- The synthesis must add value beyond summarizing — identify the decisive factor
- If the decision is clearly one-sided after analysis, say so — don't manufacture false balance
Anti-Patterns
- Don't skip the codebase scan — ungrounded opinions are worthless
- Don't let all 4 perspectives say the same thing — enforce distinct angles
- Don't give a wishy-washy "it depends" synthesis — commit to a recommendation with conditions
- Don't ignore the status quo — "do nothing" is always an alternative
READ-ONLY
This skill evaluates decisions. It does NOT implement changes.
© softspark, Apache-2.0. 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 app/skills/council of softspark/ai-toolkit.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit d64db2b
Compare with similar skills
Council 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council this skillsoftspark/ai-toolkit | 179 | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Notes | Apache-2.0 | |
| Claude Code Agent Developmentanthropics/claude-plugins-official | 38k | 8 repos | ~2.8k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Subagent Driven DevelopmentAsvarox/allkaraoke | 261 | 38 repos | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Dispatching Parallel Agentsultralisp/ultralisp | 258 | 41 repos | ~1.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Paseo Advisor Second Opiniongetpaseo/paseo | 20k | 1 repos | ~756 | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Task Observerrebelytics/one-skill-to-rule-them-all | 3.2k | 1 repos | ~12k | Automated safety check: Pass | CC-BY-4.0 |
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Questions about Council
What does Council do?
4-perspective decision evaluation for architecture choices. An agent skill from softspark/ai-toolkit. Council is an agent skill from softspark/ai-toolkit. 4-perspective decision evaluation for architecture choices.
When should I use Council?
Council fits situations like: tasks that involve Subagents.
How do I install Council in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (app/skills/council in softspark/ai-toolkit) into .claude/skills/council in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Council in Codex?
Run `npx skills add softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (app/skills/council in softspark/ai-toolkit) into .agents/skills/council in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Council 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 softspark/ai-toolkit --skill council -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/council, .gemini/skills/council, .github/skills/council and .opencode/skills/council in your project.
What does Council need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Council is instructions for the agent only. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, Agent.
Does Council 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 Council 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. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Council use?
Council 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 Council use?
About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.4k 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 Council?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Council: Claude Code Agent Development (anthropics/claude-plugins-official, 38k stars), Subagent Driven Development (Asvarox/allkaraoke, 261 stars), Dispatching Parallel Agents (ultralisp/ultralisp, 258 stars) and Paseo Advisor Second Opinion (getpaseo/paseo, 20k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Council?
softspark (a GitHub user) maintains it in softspark/ai-toolkit, which has 179 GitHub stars. The repository holds 112 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.
Source: softspark/ai-toolkit on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.