Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Council Debate agent skill for better decisions
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The Council skill is an agent skill for Claude Code and compatible SKILL.md runtimes that makes the agent convene a small panel of AI members to argue about a decision you give it. Each member is briefed with its own name, role and stance on your topic, so they push back on each other instead of agreeing. This guide explains what the skill does, how to install it, how to trigger it with plain requests, and what to check before you use it.
Council Debatedanielmiessler/LifeOS · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download and unzip the skill. Download the Council ZIP from this skill's page and unzip it. Keep the Council folder intact.
- 2Place it where the agent can find it. Move the folder into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or into .claude/skills/ inside a project. Alternatively, upload it in the Claude apps under Settings, Capabilities, Skills.
- 3Complete the OpenAI setup. Follow Setup.md to add the OpenAI login the second vendor needs, then run its read-only check.
- 4Write your decision with full context. Describe the options, constraints and relevant facts, since members argue only from what you supply.
- 5Trigger a debate or quick check. Start with council or debate for a three-round debate, or quick council check for a single round of initial positions.
- 6Read the transcript and synthesis. Review each round, check whether objections were answered by name, and note the recommended path and any disagreement that remains.
What the Council skill makes the agent do
Council runs a multi-agent debate. Topic-briefed members discuss your question over rounds, respond to each other's specific points, and surface disagreements. You get a visible round-by-round transcript plus a synthesis. The skill has two modes: DEBATE runs three rounds, and QUICK runs one round for a fast check of initial positions.
The point of using several perspectives is that one model gives one frame and one set of blind spots, and a plain pros-and-cons list has no one pushing back. Distinct members who disagree on the merits expose the weak parts of an idea before you commit to it.
- DEBATE: three rounds of initial positions, responses and challenges, and synthesis, ending in a recommended path.
- QUICK: one round of short initial takes, ending in a Proceed, Reconsider or Need full debate call.
- The skill is for weighing options and finding a path. It is not for pure adversarial attack, which the skill redirects to a separate RedTeam skill.
Install the Council skill: ZIP download or Claude apps upload
Download the Council ZIP from the skill's page in this directory, then unzip it. Put the Council folder in one of two places. For a skill available across your projects, use ~/.claude/skills/. For a skill that only applies to one project, use the .claude/skills/ folder inside that project.
If you use the Claude apps instead, you can upload the skill under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.
- Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: unzip into .claude/skills/ inside your project
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the skill
Set up the second vendor before the first debate
Council splits its members across vendors so the debate does not share one model lineage's blind spots. The second vendor needs an OpenAI login, which the skill's Setup.md file walks you through. Run that setup once before your first council.
Setup also includes a read-only check. If a member fails or does not run on its requested vendor, the transcript names that member. The skill does not quietly drop it or replace it.
- Requires Claude Code or a compatible SKILL.md agent runtime.
- Requires an OpenAI login for the second vendor, configured through Setup.md.
- Requires the ability to launch member agents as separate calls.
Trigger the skill with natural requests
You do not need special syntax. Start your request with the word council, or use words such as debate, multiple perspectives, weigh options, deliberate, get different views, what would experts say, or pros and cons. Describe the decision in full, because members argue from the context you supply.
To run the quick version, say quick council check. Requests like these route to the DEBATE or QUICK intent automatically.
- Full debate: use council or debate with your decision.
- Quick check: use quick council check with your question.
- Include the facts, constraints and files that matter, since every member argues from them.
Council: Should we use WebSockets or SSE?
Quick council check: Is this API design reasonable?
Council: Is AI overhyped?Read the transcript and synthesis
A DEBATE output shows a council header, then Round 1 initial positions, Round 2 responses and challenges, Round 3 synthesis, and finally the Council Synthesis. In Round 2 and Round 3, each member should answer a prior member by name. If a round could be swapped with the previous one without anyone noticing, the debate added little.
The synthesis is meant to resolve the question rather than summarise it. It names the surviving position, the strongest objection still unanswered, and what would change the recommendation. Where members still disagree, the output states that instead of forcing consensus.
- Check whether the strongest objection was answered or left standing.
- Look for at least one member whose stance shifted under challenge.
- Treat remaining disagreement as information about where the decision is uncertain.
Safety notes: scripts, network and data leaving your machine
Council runs scripts and uses the network. Its members are run as separate model calls, and one member is routed to a second vendor. That means the debate content for that member leaves your machine.
Do not use Council for decisions that need confidential data sent to outside model vendors. Use it for questions where you are comfortable with the content being processed by those vendors.
- Runs scripts: yes.
- Uses network: yes.
- Debate content sent to the second vendor leaves your machine, so keep confidential material out of requests that must stay private.
- Council is slower and costs more tokens than a single answer, so do not use it for quick factual lookups.
What people use it for
- Choosing between architectures or APIs, such as WebSockets or SSE, with members who defend different trade-offs.
- Stress-testing a product or strategy decision by hearing from a skeptic, a builder and a pragmatic engineer.
- Getting a fast sanity check on whether a design is reasonable before a longer review.
- Testing a contested claim, such as whether a trend is overhyped, using members with different evidence standards.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Council skill free to use?
The skill is published under the MIT licence. Running it still depends on your own Claude Code or compatible runtime and on an OpenAI login for the second vendor, so check those accounts for any costs.
What do I need to run the Council skill?
You need Claude Code or a compatible SKILL.md agent runtime, an OpenAI login for the second vendor set up through Setup.md, and the ability to launch member agents as separate calls.
How do I install the Council skill?
Download the Council ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or into .claude/skills/ in a project. You can also upload it in the Claude apps under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.
Why won't my Council debate start or finish?
Check that the OpenAI login is set up through Setup.md and that member agents can be launched. If a member failed or did not run on its requested vendor, the transcript names it, so look there for the cause.
Can Council replace RedTeam for attacking an idea?
No. Council is for collaborative debate to find the best path. Pure adversarial attack is redirected to the separate RedTeam skill.
When should I use QUICK instead of DEBATE?
Use QUICK for a fast check of initial positions with one round. If the quick check shows significant disagreement or complex trade-offs, the output recommends escalating to a full three-round debate.
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Our verdict
Use Council when a decision has real trade-offs and you want pushback instead of a flat pros-and-cons list, especially for architecture or API choices. Pick something else for quick factual lookups, pure red-teaming, or any decision involving confidential data that must not reach outside model vendors.
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