# Critique

> Critique

- Skill: `jangles-byte/critique` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jangles-byte/critique`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jangles-byte/critique/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: jangles-byte (https://skillmd.com/u/jangles-byte)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jangles-byte/critique

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# Critique

A critique is an ordered list of changes with exact values, produced by evaluating a
**real render** against a fixed rubric. "Feels unbalanced" is not critique;
"increase section gap 32px→64px so the pricing table separates from the hero" is.

## Workflow

1. **Get a real render.** Screenshot the running artifact (browser preview, simulator,
   plot output, game capture) — never critique source code or imagination.
   **If anything moves, a still is not a render.** Capture the motion and watch it:
   ```bash
   ../motion/scripts/capture-motion.py index.html --out review.gif --duration 1200
   ```
   Then interact with it directly — hover, open and close, mash the trigger — because
   interruption bugs only appear under abuse.
2. **Inventory** — one paragraph of what is objectively on screen (elements, reading
   order as encountered, palette, faces in use). Forces looking before judging.
3. **Score the rubric** — eight dimensions, 1–5 each, using
   [references/rubric.md](references/rubric.md). Cite evidence per score.
4. **Write the change list** — every scored weakness becomes a change in the exact
   format of [references/change-format.md](references/change-format.md): ranked by
   impact, each with location, current value → new value, and the principle it serves.
   3 changes minimum, 10 maximum; past 10, ship the top 10 and re-critique after.
5. **Apply and re-render.** A critique that isn't applied and re-verified is a memo.
   Iterate until the weakest rubric dimension scores ≥ 4 or the user stops you.

## Which reference to load

| Situation | Load |
|---|---|
| Scoring any render; the eight dimensions with anchors | `references/rubric.md` |
| Writing the output; worked example of a full critique | `references/change-format.md` |

## Rules

- Judge against the design philosophy first (does it keep its own promises?), the
  rubric second. If no philosophy exists, write a one-line inferred intent and say so.
- Diagnose over prescribe when uncertain of intent — but never emit a finding without
  a proposed exact value. Uncertainty goes in a parenthetical, not in vagueness.
- Strengths get one sentence, findings get the rest. Flattery is not calibration.
- Accessibility findings (contrast, motion, hit targets) always rank above aesthetic
  findings, whatever their scores.