How to use the Socratic Law Drill agent skill (socratic-drill)

What the socratic-drill skill makes the agent do

The skill is built on the idea that you learn law by being wrong about it, noticing the error and fixing it. It asks a rule-statement question, such as a short hypothetical about contract formation, and then waits. It does not give the answer up front.

If your answer is right but your reasoning is sloppy, the agent presses on the reasoning. If your answer is wrong, it asks a question that reveals the problem instead of correcting you. If you are stuck, it narrows the question rather than stating the rule. It can also point out when a rule you state contradicts your own uploaded notes, outline, flashcards or case brief, quoting your own materials back to you.

• Asks a hypothetical question and waits for your answer
• Challenges your reasoning with follow-up questions and harder variants
• Withholds the answer until you have reasoned your way to it
• Flags contradictions between your stated rule and your own uploaded materials
• Stops and points you to a real lawyer or legal aid if your question is about a real situation

Install the socratic-drill skill

Download the ZIP from the skill's page on this site and unzip it. The skill is a single file, SKILL.md. You can install it in one of two ways.

For a personal install that works across your projects, unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/. To limit it to one project, unzip it into that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal: ~/.claude/skills/
• Single project: the project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

Check what you need before you start

The skill requires Claude Code or another agent that is compatible with SKILL.md files. Nothing else is mandatory.

A CLAUDE.md file is optional but useful. If you create one at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/law-student/CLAUDE.md, the skill reads your learning style, current classes, weak areas and seed materials, so it can drill you on what you struggle with. Without it, you can still name a topic in your request.

The skill runs no scripts and uses no network access, according to its listing.

• Required: Claude Code or another SKILL.md-compatible agent
• Optional: CLAUDE.md at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/law-student/ with learning style, classes, weak areas and seed materials
• Runs scripts: no
• Uses network: no

Trigger the skill with natural requests

The skill activates when you use phrases like the ones below. You can also invoke it directly as /socratic-drill and add a subject or topic as the argument.

Name a subject and say you want to be tested. The agent will pick a rule-statement hypothetical on that topic. If you have a CLAUDE.md with weak areas, you can ask it to drill those.

• "Drill me on consideration"
• "Quiz me on offer and acceptance"
• "Socratic drill on promissory estoppel"
• "Test me on the rule against perpetuities"
• "I want to study actively for torts"

Work through a drill session

Answer each question in your own words and state the rule before you apply it. The agent will respond in one of several ways: a short acknowledgement and a harder variant if you are right, a follow-up if your reasoning is loose, a narrowing question if you are stuck.

When you are stuck after several narrowing rounds, the skill will not state the rule for you. It will tell you to return to your casebook, outline or prep materials for the black-letter statement and end the drill on that topic. You can end a session at any time by saying stop.

• State the rule first, then apply it to the facts
• Name the specific reason for your answer, not just the conclusion
• Say when you are guessing so the agent can call it
• Use the stop request or ask to switch topics when you want to finish

Know the limits: real situations and graded work

If your question sounds like a real situation, such as your own lease, a ticket you received, a deadline or a named party, the skill stops. It will not give legal advice and will direct you to legal aid, a school clinic, a bar association or law society referral service, or a private attorney.

The skill is also not for graded or take-home work. Because it can apply a rule to your hypothetical for you, using it on an assignment would effectively supply the answer.

• Triggers on real names, addresses, dates, dollar amounts, deadlines or phrases like "my landlord"
• Does not provide take-home or graded answers
• Does not give quick explanations; use another tool for those

Safety notes on scripts and network access

The listing states that this skill runs no scripts and uses no network. The only file is SKILL.md. Its behaviour depends on the instructions in that file and on the optional CLAUDE.md you choose to create, which stays on your machine at the path shown above.

Read the SKILL.md file yourself before installing any skill, as with any file you add to an agent.

• Runs scripts: no
• Uses network: no
• Only file in the package: SKILL.md