Marvin

Don't Panic! Marvin is here... unfortunately....

[marvin] · [bound-the-ask] · [pack-light] · [prove-it] · [find-the-fault] · [subtract]

_{Quick router}
[Which skill for this task?]

_{Thinking guide}
[Cynefin] · [Eigenquestions] · [First principles] · [Abstraction laddering]
[Zwicky box] · [Minto Pyramid] · [Test bar]
[OODA] · [Feedback loops] · [Leverage points] · [Issue trees]
[Specification by example] · [Quality scenarios] · [State machines]
[Independent oracles] · [Fault isolation] · [Threat modeling]

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Bound the ask. Pack light. Prove it. Find the fault. Subtract.
_{A small Agent Skills collection that bounds the scope, travels light, and refuses “done” without proof.}

Install

Works as a plugin on Grok Build, Codex, and Claude Code. Other agents discover skills from this repo (Cursor, Windsurf, and anything that scans .agents/skills/).

Commands and host matrix: install/README.md · install/paths.md

# Grok Build
grok plugin marketplace add tony-sappe/marvin
grok plugin install marvin --trust

# Codex
codex plugin marketplace add tony-sappe/marvin
codex plugin add marvin@marvin

# Agent Skills via GitHub CLI
gh skill install tony-sappe/marvin --all

Claude Code: /plugin marketplace add tony-sappe/marvin then /plugin install marvin@marvin.

Local checkout, AGENTS.md snippet, and non-plugin hosts: see install/.

Start a new session (or reload) after install so the skills appear.

Usage

After install, say the job in plain language (kebab ids also work: bound-the-ask, pack-light, …):

• bound the ask — ambiguous or multi-file work before coding
• pack light — design / new parts / YAGNI
• prove it — before calling something done or opening a PR
• find the fault — bugs, regressions, flaky tests
• subtract — delete or simplify without changing behavior

Examples:

Bound the ask for adding SSO to this app.
Pack light for this design.
Prove it before you open the PR.
Find the fault — checkout fails on Safari only.
Subtract the unused auth helpers.

Intensity

marvin shrug       # soft challenges, vibe-coding friendly
marvin paranoid    # default

Skills

Full instructions live in skills/ (SKILL.md per skill).

Skill	Job
marvin	Intensity dial + route map
bound-the-ask	Bounded contract before material work
pack-light	Smallest complete system you can trust
prove-it	Named evidence before "done"
find-the-fault	Observe → one hypothesis → one experiment
subtract	Behavior-preserving simplification

Artifacts in the target project go under specs/ (or docs/specs/ when that tree already exists or the user asks for it).

Contributing

./scripts/validate.sh

...and Thanks for All the Fish!

[ponytail] · [superpowers] · [BMAD Method] · [first-principles-engineering]

〔MIT〕