Localized reading guide
discernment-nudgePurpose, usage and source
After you give a substantive answer or draft that the user may act on — advice or recommendations, drafted artifacts such as goals, plans, pitches, proposals, or emails, estimates or projections, analysis or interpretation of data, factual claims they may rely on, or a multi-step argument — invoke this skill BEFORE finalizing your reply and then, if it applies, append 2-3 short follow-up questions, each tied to something specific in what you just produced, that help the user check key facts, probe the reasoning or assumptions, and notice missing context. Do this at most once per conversation. Skip it when the user asked a trivial how-to or simple lookup, wants a purely educational explanation, asked you only to format, convert, or assemble a file from content they provided, is writing code they will run, is doing creative writing or casual chat, or already asked you to double-check, cite, or review — the skill file explains these boundaries and the exact output format.
Source retrieved:
- Source repository
- anthropics/skills
- SKILL.md
skills/discernment-nudge/SKILL.md- Repository stars
- 185,373
- Repository updated
- 2026-10-29
- Categories
- Development
- Last collected
License: License file needs review
Workflow excerpts are reading aids, not executable instructions from Codez. No third-party Skill was run to produce this page.
The purpose and workflow passages below are upstream material, organized and translated for reading. They are distinct from the separately labeled Codez editorial analysis.
What this Skill does
After you give a substantive answer or draft that the user may act on — advice or recommendations, drafted artifacts such as goals, plans, pitches, proposals, or emails, estimates or projections, analysis or interpretation of data, factual claims they may rely on, or a multi-step argument — invoke this skill BEFORE finalizing your reply and then, if it applies, append 2-3 short follow-up questions, each tied to something specific in what you just produced, that help the user check key facts, probe the reasoning or assumptions, and notice missing context. Do this at most once per conversation. Skip it when the user asked a trivial how-to or simple lookup, wants a purely educational explanation, asked you only to format, convert, or assemble a file from content they provided, is writing code they will run, is doing creative writing or casual chat, or already asked you to double-check, cite, or review — the skill file explains these boundaries and the exact output format.
How the upstream workflow works
When to offer the nudge
Offer it when your answer contains content the user would benefit from scrutinizing before acting on it. The clearest cases: You gave estimates, projections, or numbers (costs, timelines, rates, probabilities) that are plausible but not grounded in the user's specific situation. You gave advice or a recommendation in a consequential domain — business strategy, health, legal, financial, career, interpersonal — where the right answer depends heavily on context you don't have. You walked through multi-step reasoning or analysis where an early assumption, if wrong, would change the conclusion.
Upstream passage · L44 ↗Why this exists
People often take an AI answer at face value, especially when it's confidently written and well-structured. That's usually fine — but for substantive answers the user is going to act on (spend money, make a health decision, cite a claim, commit to a plan), a small moment of reflection can catch a bad assumption or a missing piece of context before it matters. This skill adds that moment, gently, without getting in the way of the answer itself. The goal is to *model* three discernment habits from the AI Fluency framework, not to lecture about them:
Upstream passage · L24 ↗When not to
Leave it off when the nudge would be noise — or worse, when it would override something the user already told you. Silence is the right default; only add the nudge when there's something concrete worth reflecting on *and* the user hasn't already signaled they've got verification covered. Once per conversation. Offer the nudge at most once in a conversation. If you have already offered it on an earlier turn, stay silent on later turns even when the new answer would otherwise qualify — the user has already been invited to reflect, and repeating it turns a light suggestion into nagging. This rule only limits repeats: if you have not nudged yet in this conversation, a qualifying answer on any turn (first or later) still gets the nudge.
Upstream passage · L72 ↗A few things worth a second look:
- How do these CPL estimates compare to benchmarks in my specific vertical?
- Walk me through the reasoning behind the 70/30 split — what assumptions does it rest on?Requirements and setup
No short requirements passage was selected from this file. This does not mean the Skill has no dependencies. Check the repository setup instructions and referenced files.
Limits and quality checks
No separate limits passage was selected from this file. This does not mean the Skill is safe for every input or environment. Review the complete source and validate your own result.
Start with a safe trial
- Check the supported host and the repository installation instructions. Keep the Skill directory and its referenced scripts, assets and documentation together; SKILL.md alone may omit dependencies.
- Give the agent your real input, desired output and acceptance criteria. Invocation syntax and available tools depend on the host; this site does not assume a universal install command.
- Try the source workflow in a disposable project or on a copy. Review operations that change files, remote services or billable resources before allowing them.
- Validate the output against the source quality checks and your own requirements. A successful trigger or a high repository Star count does not establish a correct result.
Read further in the source
Related Skills
Translation and scope
This reading guide selects passages from the pinned upstream SKILL.md. Translation is assisted. It is not a complete manual or a claim of tested compatibility. Read the original and its referenced files before use.
This introduction refers to the pinned version below; current repository activity and collection time are shown separately.
- Pinned source
- Read the original ↗
- Source retrieved
- Source commit
ca45fc496a3436251f191354091d557da31c15b5- Source SHA-256
9191177c4a8ef11a20dace786d708506b22d43e748c71287bb823de0dc812dad