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mattpocock/skills: make your coding agent ask first

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Our verdict

One of the most useful skill packs to install first. The skills fix the most common coding-agent failure, building the wrong thing, by making the agent interview you (/grill-me, /grill-with-docs) before it writes code, then turn the result into a spec, tickets and test-first work. Each skill is short and editable, so it doesn't take over your process the way bigger frameworks do. Install it one way per agent (plugin or npx, not both, or you get every skill twice), run the setup skill once per repo, and expect grilling sessions to cost tokens, which is why /grill-me only runs when you call it.

Who it's for
Developers using Claude Code, Codex, Copilot, Gemini CLI, Cursor or OpenCode who want a repeatable plan, spec, tickets, TDD flow instead of one vague prompt
Leverage
Fewer wrong builds: the agent clarifies the requirement, writes it down and works test-first
Effort
Low
Date added

What it does

mattpocock/skills (MIT) is the set of agent skills Matt Pocock uses daily. Engineering skills include grill-with-docs, to-spec, to-tickets, implement, tdd, triage, diagnosing-bugs, code-review, improve-codebase-architecture and pr; productivity skills include grill-me, handoff and teach. setup-matt-pocock-skills asks where your issues live (GitHub, GitLab, local files or another tracker), which triage labels you use and where to save docs, so later skills know your conventions. It installs as a self-updating plugin in Claude Code, Codex and Copilot, or as editable files through the skills CLI for other agents.

How builders use it

  • Install once per agent: the Claude Code plugin, the Codex or Copilot marketplace, or npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills for Cursor, OpenCode and others.
  • Run /setup-matt-pocock-skills once in each repo to record your issue tracker, labels and docs folder.
  • Before a feature, run /grill-with-docs (or /grill-me) and answer its questions until the plan holds up.
  • Turn the agreed plan into /to-spec, then /to-tickets, and build each ticket with /tdd.
  • Edit any SKILL.md you disagree with; they are deliberately small.

What to expect

Agent work that starts from an agreed spec and small, test-first tickets instead of one oversized prompt.

Copy this: Install + the plan-to-code flow

# Official source: github.com/mattpocock/skills
# Pick ONE install per agent (plugin OR npx), or you get every skill twice
claude plugin install mattpocock-skills@claude-plugins-official      # Claude Code
codex plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills && codex plugin add mattpocock-skills@mattpocock
npx skills@latest add mattpocock/skills    # Cursor, OpenCode, others (editable copies)

# Once per repo:
/setup-matt-pocock-skills

# Per feature:
/grill-with-docs   # agent interviews you, records terms and decisions
/to-spec           # write the spec
/to-tickets        # split into small tickets with dependencies
/tdd               # build each ticket test-first

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