How do I install the Verdict skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add ronniepinnell/verdict 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 Verdict 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 Verdict?

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 Verdict free to use?

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

Who published Verdict?

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

Verdict by ronniepinnell — Agent Skill

Name: Verdict
Author: ronniepinnell

Verdict

Append-only judgment ledger. Every DOOR / GATE / PREMORTEM / REFUTE / DRIFT verdict line gets logged to one grep-able file so "show me every gate we overrode" is a query, not archaeology. Use whenever a judgment skill produces a verdict, and to query past verdicts.

File contents

/verdict — The Judgment Ledger

Decisions evaporate; ledgers compound. Every verdict the judgment skills produce is one line here. Six months later the ledger answers: what did we lock in, what did we override, what did we accept, and who signed it.

Invocation

/verdict log DOOR: one-way | locked: uuid pks | escape: full remap | gate: join p95
/verdict show 20          # last 20 verdicts
/verdict grep GATE        # all gate verdicts (or any pattern)
/verdict stats            # counts by type, overrides, accepted risks

Ledger location & format

File: .claude/verdicts.log in the project (create on first log; add to the repo, NOT gitignore — the ledger is the point). One line per verdict:

2026-07-09 | DOOR | one-way | locked: uuid pks | escape: full remap | by: operator
2026-07-09 | GATE | TRIPPED p95=340ms>200ms | on-fail: STOP executed | by: claude
2026-07-10 | GATE | OVERRIDE 200→400ms | reason: cold cache accepted | by: operator
2026-07-11 | REFUTE | REFUTED "search works" | broke on: unicode names | by: claude

Fields: date | TYPE | verdict | detail… | by: <who>. TYPE is one of DOOR, GATE, PREMORTEM, REFUTE, DRIFT, ALTITUDE. Overrides and risk-acceptances MUST name a human in by: — a model cannot accept risk on anyone's behalf.

Procedure

log — append the line verbatim (plus date + by). Never edit or delete prior lines; corrections are new lines referencing the old.
show / grep — read and filter; render as-is.
stats — counts per TYPE, number of GATE OVERRIDE lines, number of PREMORTEM accepted-risks, oldest unresolved one-way door. Flag anything suspicious plainly (e.g. "4 gate overrides in 2 weeks, all same gate — the threshold is wrong or the gate is being gamed").

Rules

A verdict not logged is a verdict that didn't happen. The judgment skills end by calling this.
The ledger is append-only. History that can be rewritten is not history.
If a project keeps decisions elsewhere (e.g. a decisions DB), log there TOO, but the flat file stays — it survives every infra migration.

Composes with

Every judgment skill (/door /gate /premortem /refute /drift /altitude /think /sweep) — they emit, this records.
/calibrate — reads this ledger to score how past confidence aged.
/precedent — greps this ledger as its primary store of prior rulings.
/escalate — every queue adjudication lands here; the ledger feeds future precedent.

---name: verdictdescription: Append-only judgment ledger. Every DOOR / GATE / PREMORTEM / REFUTE / DRIFT verdict line gets logged to one grep-able file so "show me every gate we overrode" is a query, not archaeology. Use whenever a judgment skill produces a verdict, and to query past verdicts.---# /verdict — The Judgment LedgerDecisions evaporate; ledgers compound. Every verdict the judgment skills produceis one line here. Six months later the ledger answers: what did we lock in, whatdid we override, what did we accept, and who signed it.## Invocation```/verdict log DOOR: one-way | locked: uuid pks | escape: full remap | gate: join p95/verdict show 20 # last 20 verdicts/verdict grep GATE # all gate verdicts (or any pattern)/verdict stats # counts by type, overrides, accepted risks```## Ledger location & formatFile: `.claude/verdicts.log` in the project (create on first log; add to therepo, NOT gitignore — the ledger is the point). One line per verdict:```2026-07-09 | DOOR | one-way | locked: uuid pks | escape: full remap | by: operator2026-07-09 | GATE | TRIPPED p95=340ms>200ms | on-fail: STOP executed | by: claude2026-07-10 | GATE | OVERRIDE 200→400ms | reason: cold cache accepted | by: operator2026-07-11 | REFUTE | REFUTED "search works" | broke on: unicode names | by: claude```Fields: `date | TYPE | verdict | detail… | by: <who>`. TYPE is one ofDOOR, GATE, PREMORTEM, REFUTE, DRIFT, ALTITUDE. Overrides and risk-acceptancesMUST name a human in `by:` — a model cannot accept risk on anyone's behalf.## Procedure- **log** — append the line verbatim (plus date + by). Never edit or delete prior lines; corrections are new lines referencing the old.- **show / grep** — read and filter; render as-is.- **stats** — counts per TYPE, number of GATE OVERRIDE lines, number of PREMORTEM accepted-risks, oldest unresolved one-way door. Flag anything suspicious plainly (e.g. "4 gate overrides in 2 weeks, all same gate — the threshold is wrong or the gate is being gamed").## Rules- A verdict not logged is a verdict that didn't happen. The judgment skills end by calling this.- The ledger is append-only. History that can be rewritten is not history.- If a project keeps decisions elsewhere (e.g. a decisions DB), log there TOO, but the flat file stays — it survives every infra migration.## Composes with- Every judgment skill (`/door /gate /premortem /refute /drift /altitude /think /sweep`) — they emit, this records.- `/calibrate` — reads this ledger to score how past confidence aged.- `/precedent` — greps this ledger as its primary store of prior rulings.- `/escalate` — every queue adjudication lands here; the ledger feeds future precedent.

Frequently asked questions