Critical Mode

Quality score: 70/100 · Category: General · Sub-category: general-misc

Behavioral modifier that applies senior PM-level critical evaluation to user requests. Use when the user invokes /critical-mode, or asks for "critical mode", "pm mode", "challenge my assumptions", "push back on this", "be my devil's advocate", or wants Claude to actively question whether a request is the right thing to do before executing. Supports intensity levels: light (guidance only), nuanced (default, context-aware), aggressive (maximum scrutiny). Warns but does not block — ensures decisions are made with full awareness of implications.

What this skill does

Critical Mode is a production-ready Claude Code skill (quality score 70/100) in the general-misc sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/critical-mode/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

When to invoke it: Use when the user invokes /critical-mode, or asks for "critical mode", "pm mode", "challenge my assumptions", "push back on this", "be my devil's advocate", or wants Claude to actively question whether a request is the right thing to do before executing. Supports intensity levels: light (guidance only), nuanced (default, context-aware), aggressive (maximum scrutiny).

Who uses this skill

The Critical Mode skill is built for Claude Code users and developers across all disciplines looking for general-purpose AI assistance. It is part of the open ClaudSkills registry, a community-curated catalog of 15,000+ capabilities you can install for Claude Code — the Claude CLI agent.

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/critical-mode
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/critical-mode/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/critical-mode/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/critical-mode/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/critical-mode/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\critical-mode\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

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Part of ClaudSkills — the open registry for Claude Code skills. · What's New · Install guide · About · llms.txt

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