How do I install the Devils Advocate skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add pedrohcgs/devils-advocate 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 Devils Advocate safe to use?

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Which AI agents work with Devils Advocate?

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 Devils Advocate free to use?

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

Who published Devils Advocate?

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

Devils Advocate by pedrohcgs — Agent Skill

Name: Devils Advocate
Rating: 4.666666666666667 (3 reviews)
Author: pedrohcgs

Devils Advocate

Adversarial 5-7 question challenge to a deck's pedagogical choices — ordering, prerequisites, cognitive load, motivation. Use when user says "devil's advocate", "poke holes in this deck", "push back on my slides", "stress-test the design", "what would a skeptical student ask?". Read-only; surfaces questions to force rethinking. Lighter than `/pedagogy-review`.

pedrohcgs 9db2761 2.4 KB Updated Sep 10, 2026

File contents

Devil's Advocate Review

Critically examine a slide deck and challenge its design with 5-7 specific pedagogical questions.

Philosophy: "We arrive at the best possible presentation through active dialogue."

Setup

Read the target file (the lecture being challenged)
Read the knowledge base in .claude/rules/ for notation conventions and narrative arc
If applicable, read adjacent lectures for narrative continuity

Challenge Categories

Generate 5-7 challenges from these categories:

1. Ordering Challenges

"Could students understand this better if we showed X before Y?"

2. Prerequisite Challenges

"Do students have the background for this notation at this point?"

3. Gap Challenges

"Should we include an intuitive example before this formal proof?"

4. Alternative Presentation Challenges

"Here are 2 other ways to visualize/present this concept."

5. Notation Conflict Challenges

"This symbol conflicts with earlier lecture usage."

6. Cognitive Load Challenges

"This slide has too many new symbols. Can we split?"

7. Book Vision Challenges

"If this becomes a book chapter, does this section stand alone?"

Output Format

# Devil's Advocate: [Lecture Title]

## Challenges

### Challenge 1: [Category] — [Short title]
**Question:** [The specific pedagogical question]
**Why it matters:** [What could go wrong]
**Suggested resolution:** [Specific action]
**Slides affected:** [Numbers or titles]
**Severity:** [High / Medium / Low]

[Repeat for 5-7 challenges]

## Summary Verdict
**Strengths:** [2-3 things done well]
**Critical changes:** [0-2 changes before teaching]
**Suggested improvements:** [2-3 nice-to-have changes]

Principles

Be specific: Reference exact slides and notation
Be constructive: Every challenge has a suggested resolution
Be honest: If the deck is good, say so
Prioritize: Notation conflicts > missed metaphors
Think like a student: Where do they get lost?

---name: devils-advocatedescription: Adversarial 5-7 question challenge to a deck's pedagogical choices — ordering, prerequisites, cognitive load, motivation. Use when user says "devil's advocate", "poke holes in this deck", "push back on my slides", "stress-test the design", "what would a skeptical student ask?". Read-only; surfaces questions to force rethinking. Lighter than `/pedagogy-review`.---# Devil's Advocate ReviewCritically examine a slide deck and challenge its design with 5-7 specific pedagogical questions.**Philosophy:** "We arrive at the best possible presentation through active dialogue."---## Setup1. **Read the target file** (the lecture being challenged)2. **Read the knowledge base** in `.claude/rules/` for notation conventions and narrative arc3. If applicable, **read adjacent lectures** for narrative continuity---## Challenge CategoriesGenerate 5-7 challenges from these categories:### 1. Ordering Challenges> "Could students understand this better if we showed X before Y?"### 2. Prerequisite Challenges> "Do students have the background for this notation at this point?"### 3. Gap Challenges> "Should we include an intuitive example before this formal proof?"### 4. Alternative Presentation Challenges> "Here are 2 other ways to visualize/present this concept."### 5. Notation Conflict Challenges> "This symbol conflicts with earlier lecture usage."### 6. Cognitive Load Challenges> "This slide has too many new symbols. Can we split?"### 7. Book Vision Challenges> "If this becomes a book chapter, does this section stand alone?"---## Output Format```markdown# Devil's Advocate: [Lecture Title]## Challenges### Challenge 1: [Category] — [Short title]**Question:** [The specific pedagogical question]**Why it matters:** [What could go wrong]**Suggested resolution:** [Specific action]**Slides affected:** [Numbers or titles]**Severity:** [High / Medium / Low][Repeat for 5-7 challenges]## Summary Verdict**Strengths:** [2-3 things done well]**Critical changes:** [0-2 changes before teaching]**Suggested improvements:** [2-3 nice-to-have changes]```---## Principles- **Be specific:** Reference exact slides and notation- **Be constructive:** Every challenge has a suggested resolution- **Be honest:** If the deck is good, say so- **Prioritize:** Notation conflicts > missed metaphors- **Think like a student:** Where do they get lost?

Frequently asked questions