How do I install the Decision Watcher skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add bencium/decision-watcher in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Decision Watcher safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Decision Watcher?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Decision Watcher free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Decision Watcher?

bencium (@bencium) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Decision Watcher by bencium — Agent Skill

Name: Decision Watcher
Author: bencium

Decision Watcher

Watches for architectural decisions during a bencium-loop session and nudges the user to log them via /bencium-decide. Triggers when the conversation involves picking between technical alternatives, choosing a library/framework, defining a data model, setting a policy, or making any choice that future-you would want to know the reason for.

bencium b3783dc 2.2 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

decision-watcher

When to invoke

Only when the project has a .harness/ folder (otherwise stay silent — this is not a bencium-loop project).

Trigger when the current conversation involves any of:

Library/framework choice: "should we use X or Y?", "let's go with Z"
Data model decisions: schema design, field naming conventions, normalization choices
Architecture splits: monolith vs services, sync vs async, client vs server rendering
Policy choices: auth model, caching strategy, error handling approach, naming conventions
Tradeoffs: explicit "X over Y because Z" statements from the user or you

Do NOT trigger on:

Implementation details that are obvious from the code (variable names, file layout)
Choices already documented in .harness/archive/ (check first via context-loader)
Trivial decisions that have no downstream consequences (e.g., "let's use 2-space indent")

What to do

When you detect a decision moment:

Let the conversation reach a conclusion first — don't interrupt mid-discussion.
Once the choice is made, say (briefly):

"Worth logging? Run /bencium-decide \"<short title>\" and I'll capture the why + alternatives + consequences."
If the user agrees or asks you to run it, invoke /bencium-decide with a suggested title.
If the user says no or ignores the nudge, drop it. Don't re-prompt for the same decision.

Frequency cap

Nudge at most once per 10 conversation turns. If you've nudged recently and the user didn't act, wait. Better to miss a decision than to nag.

What NOT to do

Do not auto-run /bencium-decide without the user's go-ahead.
Do not nudge for non-decisions (status updates, questions, debugging).
Do not nudge if .harness/archive/ already has a recent decision on the same topic — instead say "Already covered in archive/NNNN — want to update it?"

---name: decision-watcherdescription: Watches for architectural decisions during a bencium-loop session and nudges the user to log them via /bencium-decide. Triggers when the conversation involves picking between technical alternatives, choosing a library/framework, defining a data model, setting a policy, or making any choice that future-you would want to know the reason for.---# decision-watcher## When to invokeOnly when the project has a `.harness/` folder (otherwise stay silent — this is not a bencium-loop project).Trigger when the current conversation involves any of:- **Library/framework choice**: "should we use X or Y?", "let's go with Z"- **Data model decisions**: schema design, field naming conventions, normalization choices- **Architecture splits**: monolith vs services, sync vs async, client vs server rendering- **Policy choices**: auth model, caching strategy, error handling approach, naming conventions- **Tradeoffs**: explicit "X over Y because Z" statements from the user or youDo NOT trigger on:- Implementation details that are obvious from the code (variable names, file layout)- Choices already documented in `.harness/archive/` (check first via context-loader)- Trivial decisions that have no downstream consequences (e.g., "let's use 2-space indent")## What to doWhen you detect a decision moment:1. Let the conversation reach a conclusion first — don't interrupt mid-discussion.2. Once the choice is made, say (briefly): > "Worth logging? Run `/bencium-decide \"<short title>\"` and I'll capture the why + alternatives + consequences."3. If the user agrees or asks you to run it, invoke `/bencium-decide` with a suggested title.4. If the user says no or ignores the nudge, drop it. Don't re-prompt for the same decision.## Frequency capNudge at most once per 10 conversation turns. If you've nudged recently and the user didn't act, wait. Better to miss a decision than to nag.## What NOT to do- Do not auto-run `/bencium-decide` without the user's go-ahead.- Do not nudge for non-decisions (status updates, questions, debugging).- Do not nudge if `.harness/archive/` already has a recent decision on the same topic — instead say "Already covered in archive/NNNN — want to update it?"

Frequently asked questions