council

name	Council
description	Multi-agent collaborative debate producing visible round-by-round transcripts with real intellectual friction. Members custom-composed via ComposeAgent with domain expertise tailored to the topic — never generic. Workflows: DEBATE (3 rounds, full transcript + synthesis, parallel within rounds, 40-90s), QUICK (1 round, fast perspective check). 4-6 well-composed agents outperform 12 generic ones. Collaborative-adversarial — debate to find the best path. USE WHEN council, debate, multiple perspectives, weigh options, deliberate, get different views, what would experts say, pros and cons. NOT FOR pure adversarial attack (use RedTeam).
effort	high
context	fork

Customization

Before executing, check for user customizations at: ~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/Council/

If this directory exists, load and apply any PREFERENCES.md, configurations, or resources found there. These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults.

MANDATORY: Voice Notification (REQUIRED BEFORE ANY ACTION)

You MUST send this notification BEFORE doing anything else when this skill is invoked.

1. Send voice notification:

   curl -s -X POST http://localhost:31337/notify \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow in the Council skill to ACTION"}' \
     > /dev/null 2>&1 &
   

2. Output text notification:

   Running the **WorkflowName** workflow in the **Council** skill to ACTION...
   

This is not optional. Execute this curl command immediately upon skill invocation.

Council Skill

What It Does

Runs a multi-agent debate. Custom-composed agents discuss a topic over rounds, respond to each other's actual points, and surface insights through real intellectual friction. You get a visible round-by-round transcript plus a synthesis. DEBATE runs three rounds; QUICK runs one for a fast perspective check.

The Problem

When you ask one model for an opinion, you get one frame and one set of blind spots. Asking for "pros and cons" gives you a flat list with no one actually pushing back. Real deliberation needs distinct experts who disagree on the merits and argue it out, so the weak parts of an idea get exposed before you commit. Generic built-in agents all sound the same and produce bland agreement; this skill composes topic-specific agents that create genuine friction.

How It Works

Custom-composed agents discuss topics in rounds, respond to each other's points, and surface insights through intellectual friction.

CRITICAL: Custom Agents Only

ALL council members MUST be custom-composed agents created via the Agents skill's ComposeAgent tool (bun run ~/.claude/skills/Agents/Tools/ComposeAgent.ts). NEVER use built-in agent types (Architect, Designer, Engineer, PerplexityResearcher, etc.).

Built-in types are generic and topic-ignorant. Council debates require agents with:

• Domain expertise tailored to the specific debate topic
• Unique voices and personalities via ComposeAgent
• Distinct analytical approaches that create genuine friction

See CouncilMembers.md for full agent composition instructions.

Key Differentiator from RedTeam: Council is collaborative-adversarial (debate to find best path), while RedTeam is purely adversarial (attack the idea). Council produces visible conversation transcripts; RedTeam produces steelman + counter-argument.

Workflow Routing

Route to the appropriate workflow based on the request.

Trigger	Workflow
Full structured debate (3 rounds, visible transcript)	Workflows/Debate.md
Quick consensus check (1 round, fast)	Workflows/Quick.md

Pure adversarial analysis is not a Council workflow — redirect to the RedTeam skill.

Quick Reference

Workflow	Purpose	Rounds	Output
DEBATE	Full structured discussion	3	Complete transcript + synthesis
QUICK	Fast perspective check	1	Initial positions only

Context Files

File	Content
CouncilMembers.md	How to compose custom agents for councils (ComposeAgent)
RoundStructure.md	Three-round debate structure and timing
OutputFormat.md	Transcript format templates

Core Philosophy

Origin: Best decisions emerge from diverse perspectives challenging each other. Not just collecting opinions - genuine intellectual friction where domain-specific experts respond to each other's actual points.

Agents: Every council uses custom-composed agents via the Agents skill. This gives each member a unique voice, personality, and domain expertise tailored to the topic. Generic built-in agents produce generic debate. Custom agents produce sharp, informed debate.

Speed: Parallel execution within rounds, sequential between rounds. A 3-round debate of 4 agents = 12 agent calls but only 3 sequential waits. Complete in 40-90 seconds.

Examples

"Council: Should we use WebSockets or SSE?"
-> Compose 4 custom agents with relevant traits (real-time, frontend, ops, research)
-> DEBATE workflow -> 3-round transcript

"Quick council check: Is this API design reasonable?"
-> Compose 4 custom agents with API-relevant traits
-> QUICK workflow -> Fast perspectives

"Council: Is AI overhyped?"
-> Compose agents: AI builder, security skeptic, pragmatic engineer, evidence analyst
-> DEBATE workflow -> 3-round transcript

Integration

Depends on:

• Agents skill - ComposeAgent tool for creating all council members

Works well with:

• RedTeam - Pure adversarial attack after collaborative discussion
• Research - Gather context before convening the council

Best Practices

1. Use QUICK for sanity checks, DEBATE for important decisions
2. Design agent traits around the specific topic, not generic roles
3. NEVER use built-in agent types — ALWAYS use ComposeAgent

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Last Updated: 2026-03-18

Gotchas

• Council uses the Agents skill (ComposeAgent) for custom agents — NOT built-in agent types. Never use Designer, Architect, etc. for Council debates.
• Debates need genuine disagreement to be valuable. If all agents agree, the topic may not warrant Council.
• More agents ≠ better debate. 4-6 well-composed agents outperform 12 generic ones.

Execution Log

After completing any workflow, append a single JSONL entry:

echo '{"ts":"'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'","skill":"Council","workflow":"WORKFLOW_USED","input":"8_WORD_SUMMARY","status":"ok|error","duration_s":SECONDS}' >> ~/.claude/LIFEOS/MEMORY/SKILLS/execution.jsonl

Replace WORKFLOW_USED with the workflow executed, 8_WORD_SUMMARY with a brief input description, and SECONDS with approximate wall-clock time. Log status: "error" if the workflow failed.