Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Peer Selection Advisor agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The peer-selection skill is a set of instructions that teaches an AI agent to help you think through your closest relationships. It draws on the 'five chimpanzees' idea from Naval Ravikant's book: the five people you spend the most time with tend to predict your behaviour, emotions and success. After this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to phrase a request that triggers it and where it should not be used.
Peer Selection Advisorkangarooking/cangjie-skill · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Get the peer-selection ZIP from the download link on this page.
- 2Unzip into a skills folder. Unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder.
- 3Or upload it in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities and then Skills, and upload the ZIP.
- 4Describe your situation. Ask about a friendship, partner, circle or whether to distance yourself from someone, in plain language.
- 5List your five closest contacts. Let the agent help you mark each of the five most frequent contacts as positive, negative or neutral.
- 6Decide how to handle negative relationships. For each negative relationship, choose to change it through communication, limit contact or end it, unless it is someone you cannot leave.
- 7Write your core values. Draft three to five core values to judge new people by, focusing on whether they match you on the things that matter most.
What does the peer-selection skill make the agent do?
When you ask about making friends, changing social circles, choosing a partner or whether to pull away from someone, the agent follows a short process rather than giving a generic answer. It treats the people you see most often as a deliberate choice, not an accident of location or shared work.
The skill runs four steps: list your five most frequent contacts and mark each as positive, negative or neutral; decide what to do with each negative relationship; separate the company you need at work from the company you want for leisure; and write a short list of three to five core values to judge new people by.
- Step 1: inventory your five most frequent contacts and note what each one seems to predict about your behaviour.
- Step 2: match your circle to context, for example people more successful than you at work and people happier than you for leisure.
- Step 3: for each negative relationship, choose to change it through clear communication, set limits on contact, or end it.
- Step 4: write 3 to 5 core values; small differences matter less than conflicts in core values.
How do you install the peer-selection skill?
The skill is distributed as a ZIP file from the download link on this page. Download the ZIP and unzip it into one of two folders: ~/.claude/skills/ to make it available across your projects, or the .claude/skills/ folder inside a specific project to make it available only there.
If you use the Claude apps instead, open Settings, go to Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the ZIP there.
- Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: unzip into the .claude/skills/ folder of that project
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP
How do you trigger the skill with natural requests?
You do not need to name the skill. The skill is meant to be picked up when your request is about friendships, partners, circles or whether to distance yourself from someone. Describe your situation in plain language.
The skill lists these trigger words: friends, circle, partner, should I distance, being dragged down, five chimpanzees, peer, values. Requests in the same spirit in English also work, such as asking who you should surround yourself with or how to deal with toxic friends.
- 'My best friend always complains. Should I distance myself from them?'
- 'I just moved to a new city. How do I make friends who share my values?'
- 'How do I choose a partner? What matters most?'
- 'I want to meet more successful or happier people. How should I change my circle?'
What does a good session look like?
Give the agent enough context to work with. Name the people involved, say how often you see them and describe what you notice afterwards, such as lower mood or more negativity. The skill works through your five most frequent contacts, so tell it who those are if you can.
The skill also tells the agent to handle certain situations differently. If the person is a colleague you cannot avoid, or a relative you cannot realistically leave, the advice points toward setting boundaries and building positive relationships around them rather than cutting ties.
- Tell the agent who your five most frequent contacts are, even roughly.
- Say whether the relationship is at work, in family or in your social life.
- Be honest about your own part in the situation; the skill asks you to take responsibility first.
What does the skill need, and what are the safety notes?
The skill lists no requirements. It does not run scripts and does not use the network. The package contains three files: SKILL.md, which holds the instructions, test-prompts.json, which lists example prompts used for testing, and test-results.md, which records those tests.
Test results were produced by the author checking the prompts against the instructions, not by a blind independent test, so treat them as a rough indication. The skill is a thinking aid about your relationships, not a psychological assessment.
- Requires: nothing listed
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: no
- Files: SKILL.md, test-prompts.json, test-results.md
When should you not use the peer-selection skill?
The skill is not for workplace relationships you cannot avoid, such as colleagues you must work with. In that case it recommends setting boundaries rather than cutting ties, because cutting off is often impractical.
It is also not for family members or people you cannot realistically leave, because the advice may cause real harm if applied bluntly. Finally, if you are in a personal low point and blame everyone else, the skill asks you to take personal responsibility first, since choosing different people will not fix a problem rooted in your own choices.
- Colleagues you must work with: set boundaries first.
- Family members or people you cannot realistically leave: set boundaries, not exit.
- Low points where you blame everyone else: take responsibility before choosing your circle.
What people use it for
- Reviewing whether your friend group is pulling your mood or habits in a direction you do not want.
- Planning how to meet people after moving to a new city or starting a new job.
- Thinking through what to look for in a partner by listing the values that matter most.
- Deciding whether to step back from someone who keeps causing conflict, and how to do it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the peer-selection agent skill?
Download the ZIP from the download link on this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps, you can instead upload the ZIP under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.
Does the peer-selection skill require anything else to run?
The skill lists no requirements. It does not run scripts and does not use the network, according to its documentation.
Is the peer-selection skill free?
The source material for this page does not state a price or licence fee for the skill itself. The skill is listed under the MIT licence, which you should check in the package for the exact terms.
What is the five chimpanzees theory?
It is an idea from Naval Ravikant's book that the people you spend the most time with tend to predict your behaviour, emotions and success. The skill uses it as a starting point for reviewing your closest contacts. The author presents it as a predictive metaphor rather than rigorous psychology.
Can I use this skill to decide whether to end a friendship?
Yes, that is one of its main uses. It asks you to mark each close contact as positive, negative or neutral, then choose between changing the relationship, setting limits on contact or ending it. It does not recommend ending relationships with family or colleagues you cannot avoid.
What should I use instead if this skill does not fit my situation?
For a business partner, the source suggests the long-term-compounding skill, which asks whether you could work with someone for a lifetime. For honesty in your own conduct, the honesty-communication skill is listed as a related skill. For a workplace or family problem, the skill itself points toward setting boundaries, which may be better handled outside an agent.
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Our verdict
Use this skill if you want a structured way to review your closest relationships, especially after a move, a job change or when a friendship leaves you feeling drained. Skip it for relationships you cannot leave, such as family or colleagues you must work with, and when the real issue is your own choices, which the skill itself says to address first.
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