before-you-build
Pre-build product and feature risk review for founders, product managers
by wshobsonFree
Description
before-you-build is an agent skill from the wshobson/agents collection that runs a short pre-mortem before a product or feature is built. It is for founders, product managers and anyone using AI to build quickly who wants to check the idea first. The skill applies when someone is about to build or ship a new product, MVP, prototype, landing page, SaaS app, marketplace, content site, agent workflow or internal tool, or when a major feature has unclear effects on adoption, revenue, retention, trust or distribution. It also applies before a public launch asset, where weak positioning could waste development and promotion effort. The goal, as the skill states, is not to block building. It is to identify the highest-risk assumption, the smallest validation step that could test it, and the build scope that should wait until there is better evidence. The skill walks through a risk checklist covering the idea. It skips narrow tasks such as an implementation fix, a refactor, a test repair, a dependency update, or a change that is already validated with clear acceptance criteria. It is installed with the skills CLI from the wshobson/agents repository. Its skills.sh page showed about 2.9K installs and passing results from three security audits at the time of the scan.…
Highlights
- Pre-mortem before building a product or feature
- Finds the highest-risk assumption
- Suggests the smallest validation step
- Risk checklist for ideas and launches
- Skips narrow implementation tasks
- Installs with the skills CLI
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before-you-build FAQ
What does this skill do?
It runs a compact pre-mortem on a product or feature idea before the build starts, to surface the riskiest assumptions.
Does it stop me from building?
No. The skill says its goal is not to block building. It helps decide what to validate first and what scope to delay.
What does it produce?
The highest-risk assumption, the smallest validation step, and the build scope that should wait for better evidence.
When should I skip it?
For narrow fixes, refactors, test repairs, dependency updates, or changes already validated with clear acceptance criteria.
Who is it for?
Founders, product managers and AI-assisted builders about to ship a landing page, app, feature or launch asset.
How do I install it?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/wshobson/agents --skill before-you-build.
What security audits does it have?
skills.sh lists three audits: Gen Agent Trust Hub Pass, Socket Pass and Snyk Pass.
What are the best before-you-build alternatives?
Popular alternatives to before-you-build include product-lens, competitive-landscape and market-sizing-analysis. See all before-you-build alternatives