mine-challenge

name	mine-challenge
description	Use when the user says: "challenge this", "poke holes in this", or "what's wrong with this approach". Adversarial review with triage-driven critic selection, parallel critics (1–3 on first run; max 2 on re-challenges). Assumes the target is wrong, finds out why, and argues for a better approach.
user-invocable	true

Challenge

Adversarial review of any artifact — code, specs, designs, briefs, skill files. Assumes the target is wrong and sets out to prove it. A Haiku triage pass selects 1–3 critics best suited to the target; critics run in parallel and findings are synthesized, classified, and executed inline.

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS — optional scope:

• File/path: /mine-challenge src/services/user_service.py
• Module/concept: /mine-challenge "the auth module"
• Empty: brief recon to find the most suspect design areas, then confirm scope

Optional arguments (extracted from the beginning of $ARGUMENTS only — stop at first non-flag token):

• --focus="<area>" — steer critics; also forces any specialist whose filename slug prefix-matches (≥6 chars, case-insensitive, single word only)
• --target-type=<type> — override heuristic classification. Values: code, frontend-code, spec, design-doc, brief, skill-file, agent-file, rule, docs, research, other
• --findings-out=<path> — deterministic output path (structured callers only, e.g., mine-define). Overwrites without warning.
• --mode=passthrough — present summary only; skip inline resolution (mine-brainstorm, mine-research)
• --no-specialists — triage selects from generic personas only
• --cap=N — finding cap (default 7). CRITICAL and HIGH are never capped.
• --verbose — show all findings including overflow

How to Analyze

Do NOT run tests, execute builds, or write throwaway scripts.

DO use Read, Grep, Glob, git log/git diff. Use WebSearch to cite canonical patterns or failure modes.

Finding Taxonomy

Every finding gets: severity (CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / TENSION), type (Structural / Approach-now / Approach-later / Fragility / Gap), design-level (Yes / No), resolution (Auto-apply / User-directed).

See ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills/mine-challenge/findings-protocol.md for classification criteria, status/overflow fields, and the inline resolution flow.

Phase 1: Triage

Parse arguments and create tmpdir

Extract flags from $ARGUMENTS. Run get-skill-tmpdir mine-challenge — note the directory (e.g., /tmp/claude-mine-challenge-a8Kx3Q). All intermediate files live here.

Read target and classify type

Determine the input shape and read the target:

• File path: read the file(s) fully
• List file (.txt/.list): read as newline-separated paths; skip blank/comment lines; record missing files to <tmpdir>/validation-warnings.md
• Inline content (multi-sentence markdown): treat as target text directly

Classify target type — use --target-type if provided, otherwise:

Target type	Detected by
code	.py, .go, .rs, .java, .ts, .js (backend); mixed/repo-wide scope
frontend-code	.tsx, .jsx, .vue, .svelte, .astro; UI framework imports; dirs named components/, pages/, hooks/
spec	Standalone requirement docs outside caliper workflow
design-doc	design.md; architecture/API contract content
brief	brief.md; grill/brainstorm output
skill-file	SKILL.md; phases/persona definitions
agent-file	Files in agents/; .md with agent frontmatter
docs	README.md; .md in docs/ directories
research	research.md; investigation output
rule	Files in rules/; convention/guideline definitions
other	Nothing matches

Re-challenge detection

Check for a prior challenge run before dispatching triage:

1. If --findings-out provided: check whether that file exists and starts with # Challenge Findings + **Format-version:**. If yes → re-challenge.
2. Otherwise: look for challenge-results*.md or challenge-findings*.md in the target's directory with the same validation check.
3. Fallback: if conversation context shows a prior challenge against this target → re-challenge.

Note re-challenge status in context for Phase 2 critic selection.

Dispatch Haiku triage subagent

Dispatch a single triage subagent (model: haiku, subagent_type: general-purpose). Pass:

• Full target content (or file paths to read)
• Target type classification
• Re-challenge flag (yes / no)
• --focus value if provided
• --no-specialists flag if provided
• The persona catalog (name + one-line description from each frontmatter):

Generics:

• senior-engineer.md — Skeptical Senior Engineer: runtime risks, edge cases, security, operational blindness
• systems-architect.md — Systems Architect: abstraction violations, change amplification, data model problems
• adversarial-reviewer.md — Adversarial Reviewer: wrong solution entirely, UX failures, "should this exist?"

Specialists:

• agent-definition.md — Agent Definition Critic: agent file quality, executor compatibility, scope leakage
• contract-caller.md — Contract & Caller Critic: output schema fragility, breaking change surface, implicit contracts
• data-integrity.md — Data Integrity Critic: transaction safety, partial writes, cache/source-of-truth divergence
• documentation-architect.md — Documentation Architect Critic: doc set structure, mode confusion, findability gaps
• end-user-reader.md — End-User Reader Critic: assumed prerequisites, missing steps, error path silence
• operational-resilience.md — Operational Resilience Critic: resource exhaustion, upstream failures, recovery behavior
• structural-minimalist.md — Structural Minimalist Critic: speculative layers, single-consumer abstractions, bolted-on requirements, designs that could be half the size
• web-platform.md — Web Platform Critic: re-renders, data fetching patterns, accessibility, CSS architecture
• workflow-ux.md — Workflow & UX Critic: phase transitions, unhelpful defaults, unnecessary friction

Triage subagent instructions: Return a JSON block with:

• critics: array of 1–3 persona filenames (e.g., ["senior-engineer.md", "contract-caller.md"])
• rationale: object mapping each filename to a one-sentence reason for selection
• target_summary: one sentence describing what the target does

Triage rules:

• If --no-specialists: select only from generics
• If --focus is a single word ≥6 chars that prefix-matches a specialist slug: always include that specialist
• If re-challenge (yes): select max 2 critics total
• Otherwise: select 1–3 critics; include at least one generic unless the target is highly specialized
• If triage returns zero critics: fall back to senior-engineer.md

Write triage JSON to <tmpdir>/triage.md. Parse the result in the orchestrator context.

If empty $ARGUMENTS

Quick recon: directory structure, recently modified files (git log -n 10 --diff-filter=M --name-only --format=), largest files. Then:

AskUserQuestion:
  question: "I've scanned the codebase. These areas look most suspect. Which should I critique?"
  header: "Focus area"
  multiSelect: false
  options:
    - label: "<area 1>"
      description: "<why it looks suspect>"
    - label: "<area 2>"
      description: "<why it looks suspect>"
    - label: "Let me specify"
      description: "I'll tell you exactly what to look at"

Phase 2: Critique

Read selected persona files

For each persona filename from triage, resolve to the full path by searching ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills/mine-challenge/personas/generic/ then personas/specialist/. Verify each file has name and type in frontmatter and a non-empty body. Record validation issues to <tmpdir>/validation-warnings.md and exclude invalid files.

If the generic persona directory is missing or empty, stop with: "Cannot launch critics — persona files not found at ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills/mine-challenge/personas/generic/. Run uv run install.py."

Dispatch critics in parallel

Issue ALL critic Agent tool calls in a single response message. Each uses model: sonnet, subagent_type: general-purpose, NOT run_in_background. Each critic receives:

• Target content (file paths to read, or inline text)
• Target type and target_summary from triage
• Full persona content (Persona, Characteristic question, Focus bullets)
• Triage rationale for why this critic was selected
• Focus instruction if --focus was provided: "The user is specifically concerned about: . Weight your analysis toward this concern."
• If re-challenge: "This is a re-challenge after fixes were applied. Focus on: (1) whether the fixes were thorough, (2) whether fixes introduced new problems, (3) issues missed in the first round."
• Project context if available: check the project's CLAUDE.md for frontmatter with audience, developers, and data-sensitivity fields. If present, include: "Project context: audience is , developer(s), data sensitivity is . Calibrate your findings to this context — skip findings that would only matter for a different audience or scale." If absent, do not fabricate context — omit this line.
• Output path: <tmpdir>/<persona-slug>-report.md
• Critic rules:
  1. Cite evidence for every claim — file:line for codebase claims; canonical URL for external patterns
  2. Name the problem directly — no hedging
  3. Propose a fix: Resolution: Auto-apply | User-directed + one-sentence fix or options
  4. Tag each finding: severity (CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM/TENSION), type, design-level
  5. Structure each finding: **Why it matters**, **Evidence**, **Design challenge**
  6. Include a Pushback section: findings you anticipate other critics raising that you'd disagree with
  7. Read beyond provided files: use Read, Grep, Glob; include Files examined at top of report

After all critics complete, verify each output file exists and has ≥500 bytes. Record undersized/missing files to <tmpdir>/validation-warnings.md.

Phase 3: Synthesize + Classify

Dispatch synthesis as a separate subagent (model: sonnet, subagent_type: general-purpose) for fresh context.

The synthesis subagent receives:

• All critic report paths (<tmpdir>/<slug>-report.md for each critic)
• Triage rationale and target_summary
• Target type
• Cap value (from --cap, default 7)
• Output path: --findings-out path if provided, otherwise <tmpdir>/challenge-results.md
• Contents of <tmpdir>/validation-warnings.md if it exists
• The full synthesis procedure below

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE (include as opening paragraph): You MUST write a findings file to <output path> using the Write tool before you finish. If you do nothing else, write that file.

Synthesis procedure:

1. Read all critic reports in full — do not glob; read each named file explicitly
2. Group by problem area — cluster findings addressing the same concern. Keep similar-but-distinct issues separate.
3. Assign tags per finding:
   • severity: highest severity any critic assigned (must be CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / TENSION — reclassify non-contract values as MEDIUM)
   • type: type best describing the root cause
   • design-level: Yes wins when critics disagree
   • resolution: Auto-apply only when ALL critics agree on the same fix AND it's localized and additive AND severity is not CRITICAL. Otherwise User-directed. When ambiguous, default User-directed.
   • status: pending for all in-cap findings; overflow for findings beyond the cap
   • overflow: false for in-cap findings; true for findings beyond the cap
4. CRITICAL guard: CRITICAL findings MUST always be classified as resolution: User-directed regardless of the resolution field from any critic or agreement level. This is a non-negotiable override — do not classify any CRITICAL finding as Auto-apply under any circumstances.
5. Cap enforcement:
   • If cap=0: pure automation mode — keep resolution: Auto-apply findings as status: pending so Phase 4 applies them; mark resolution: User-directed findings as status: overflow
   • CRITICAL and HIGH: always included, never overflow (except User-directed findings when cap=0)
   • TENSION: overflow if any CRITICAL or HIGH findings exist
   • MEDIUM: always included, never overflow (except User-directed MEDIUM findings when cap=0)
6. Copy presentation fields from critic reports: why-it-matters (most concrete consequence statement), evidence (all file:line citations, deduped), design-challenge (strongest question). Write not cited for evidence when none; omit other fields when absent.
7. Write recommendation for each User-directed finding (which option and why). For TENSION: write deciding-factor instead.
8. Validity assessment: assess whether each finding holds up. Findings are valid by default — to flag one as likely invalid, you must provide concrete evidence: what the finding claims, what the code actually does, and why they conflict. Read the relevant code to verify claims. If you cannot articulate the evidence trail, the finding stays in the main list. Move likely-invalid findings to the ## Likely Invalid section per the findings protocol; renumber the remaining findings to stay contiguous (no gaps in the ## Finding N: sequence).

Write findings file to the output path using Format-version: 3 header. Include **Likely-invalid:** N in the header block (even when 0). Format per ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills/mine-challenge/findings-protocol.md.

After synthesis subagent completes: Verify the findings file exists at the output path. If missing (subagent returned text instead of writing), extract findings from the returned text: if it starts with # Challenge Findings and contains **Format-version:** write as-is (verify **Likely-invalid:** line is present; inject **Likely-invalid:** 0 after the **Format-version:** line if missing); if it contains ## Finding headings inject the header block (including **Likely-invalid:** 0) then write; otherwise stop with "Error: synthesis subagent did not produce findings in a writable format — re-run /mine-challenge."

Phase 4: Execute

Read the findings file. Announce: "Specialists selected: [names from triage]" and note re-challenge if applicable. For each critic excluded by validation, announce the exclusion before findings.

If --mode=passthrough: present a one-paragraph summary (count by severity, likely-invalid count, top takeaway). Return. Do not execute anything.

If --findings-out provided (structured mode): auto-apply all resolution: Auto-apply, status: pending findings directly via Edit tool. Update status: applied in findings file for each. Skip interactive prompts. Write "Challenge complete — findings written to <path>. Returning to caller." Return.

If standalone mode (direct user invocation, mine-grill caller):

Read and follow the Inline Resolution Flow in ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills/mine-challenge/findings-protocol.md exactly. After all findings are processed, report: "Applied N findings. M skipped. K overflow (use --verbose to see all). L flagged as likely invalid." List critic report paths and findings file path.

If --verbose: also present overflow findings (status: overflow) after the main flow, labeled as "Additional findings (beyond cap)".

Principles

1. Evidence or silence — every claim must cite a specific file and line
2. Direct — name the problem, explain the consequence, move on
3. The better way — every finding must name a pattern, approach, or structural alternative
4. Impact over consensus — severity reflects consequence, not vote count
5. Err toward user input — ambiguous resolution → User-directed
6. CRITICAL → always user-directed — no exceptions

Known Callers

Structured callers (pass --findings-out, read findings file per ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills/mine-challenge/caller-protocol.md):

• skills/mine-define/SKILL.md

Passthrough callers (pass --mode=passthrough):

• skills/mine-research/SKILL.md
• skills/mine-brainstorm/SKILL.md

Standalone callers (full inline resolution flow):

• skills/mine-grill/SKILL.md
• skills/mine-gap-close/SKILL.md

Inline-revision callers (invoke challenge, read findings in-context, revise own proposal):

• skills-impeccable/i-adapt/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-animate/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-bolder/SKILL.md
• skills-impeccable/i-clarify/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-colorize/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-delight/SKILL.md
• skills-impeccable/i-distill/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-harden/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-layout/SKILL.md
• skills-impeccable/i-overdrive/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-optimize/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-polish/SKILL.md
• skills-impeccable/i-quieter/SKILL.md, skills-impeccable/i-typeset/SKILL.md

Detection callers (scan for severity labels, don't read findings file):

• skills/mine-build/SKILL.md

To find all callers: grep -r 'CHALLENGE-CALLER' ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills/ ${CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR:-~/.claude}/skills-impeccable/ --include='*.md' -l