samhvw8 Debate
Guaranteed entry point for a live agent-team debate: named teammates argue with each other via SendMessage, you moderate, then you synthesize what survived. The real thing — not one agent role-playing both sides in a single response.
This skill is a thin trigger. The full protocol, spawn-prompt template, moderation rules, and variants live in the heavy-think skill — read it before spawning:
../heavy-think/references/team-debate.md
Prerequisites (check first)
| Requirement | Why | If missing |
|---|---|---|
| You are the main session | Agent teams have no nested teams — a subagent can't spawn teammates | Stop; tell the user to run debate from the main session |
CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1 |
Enables teammates + SendMessage |
Fall back to heavy-think's Round Protocol (simulated, weaker) |
If either fails, say so explicitly — do NOT silently simulate the debate and pass it off as real.
Playbook
- Frame the motion. One sentence, debatable, with a clear A-vs-B or yes/no. Surface the hidden axes — what would change the verdict.
- Assign stances. 2–4 positions that genuinely conflict (not shades of agreement). Name each debater.
- Spawn all debaters in ONE message —
model="opus", each given: full context (teammates don't inherit your history), its assigned stance, and its opponents by name. Instruct each to argue viaSendMessage, engage the opponent's LATEST point, make no file edits, spawn nothing. - Opening round. Each states its strongest case.
- Cross-examine. They attack each other directly, round by round. You bound rounds (max 3) and force engagement with the latest argument — never argue a stance yourself.
- Detect convergence. Stop when positions stabilize or a crux is isolated.
- Synthesize + shut down. YOU write the verdict: what survived challenge, what broke, the decision and its conditions. Then shut the teammates down.
Rules
- Moderate, don't compete — you steer, you never take a side.
- Max 3 rounds; beyond that is diminishing returns.
- Anti-sycophancy: debaters attack arguments, not flatter each other.
- The deliverable is YOUR synthesis, not a transcript dump.
Related
- team-debate protocol — full protocol, spawn-prompt template, variants
- heavy-think — Debate is also a mode there (Dispatch → Escalation: Agent Debate)