Get only the weaknesses in something you made — no praise, no encouragement padding, just the holes and how to fix them. Use when asked to poke holes in this, tell me what's wrong with this, critique this honestly, or don't be nice about it. Produces a focused list of the real problems in your draft, plan, argument, or code — ranked by severity, each with why it's a problem and a concrete fix — deliberately stripping the 'this is great!' padding that AI and polite humans add and you don't need.
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Use poke-holes-in-this to critique [draft or plan] for [purpose and audience] at a [brutal or firm-but-kind] level, respecting any off-limits parts; return only ranked weaknesses, consequences, concrete fixes, and the highest-priority fix.
Required inputs
[draft or plan]
[purpose and audience]
[brutal or firm-but-kind]
User-approved starter prompt based on a pinned source version; check current skill requirements before running. Task evidence ↗
SKILL.md
name: poke-holes-in-thisdescription: "Get only the weaknesses in something you made — no praise, no encouragement padding, just the holes and how to fix them. Use when asked to poke holes in this, tell me what's wrong with this, critique this honestly, or don't be nice about it. Produces a focused list of the real problems in your draft, plan, argument, or code — ranked by severity, each with why it's a problem and a concrete fix — deliberately stripping the 'this is great!' padding that AI and polite humans add and you don't need."
Poke Holes In This
When you want to improve something, praise is noise. This is pure critique mode: you paste what you made, and it returns only the problems — ranked, specific, and each with a fix. No "great start!", no compliment sandwich, no softening. It's the honest second read you asked for, doing the one job you asked it to do.
What This Skill Produces
The holes — the real weaknesses, gaps, errors, and soft spots, specifically
Severity ranking — which problems are serious vs. minor, so you fix the right ones first
Why each is a problem — the concrete consequence, not just "this is weak"
A fix for each — a specific way to address it, not just a complaint
Nothing else — no praise padding, no encouragement filler
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
The thing — the draft, plan, argument, design, or code (paste it)
What it's for — purpose and audience (what counts as a hole depends on the goal)
How harsh — brutal, or firm-but-kind
Anything off-limits — parts that are fixed and not up for critique
Framework: Only The Weaknesses
Skip the praise. The job is holes; strengths aren't the ask. Go straight to what's wrong.
Be specific. Point to the actual line, claim, or element — "the argument in paragraph 3 assumes X" beats "it's a bit weak."
Rank by severity. Separate the problems that matter from nitpicks, so the person fixes the important ones first.
Say the consequence. For each hole, name what it costs — a reader lost, an objection unanswered, a bug triggered.
Attach a fix. Every hole comes with a concrete way to close it — critique without a path is just discouragement.
Output Format
Poking holes in: [the thing] · for [purpose]
🔴 Serious
[the hole] → why it matters: [consequence] → fix: [specific].
🟡 Worth fixing
[the hole] → [consequence] → [fix].
🟢 Minor / nitpicks
[quick ones].
The one to fix first: [highest-leverage hole].
Quality Checks
Contains only weaknesses — no praise padding
Each hole is specific (points to the actual part)
Problems are ranked by severity
Each includes the consequence and a concrete fix
Identifies the single highest-priority fix
Anti-Patterns
A compliment sandwich when only critique was asked for.
Vague criticism with no specific location.
Nitpicks ranked equal to serious problems.
Complaints with no fixes.
Example Trigger Phrases
"Poke holes in my essay — don't be nice."
"Tell me what's wrong with this plan, only the problems."