How to use the Zhang Yiming Perspective agent skill

What the skill makes the agent do

The skill turns the agent into a structured sounding board on product, organisation, globalisation, hiring and personal growth questions. It is built around five mental models, such as delayed gratification, projecting surface problems onto simpler underlying ones, and the idea that Context matters more than Control in large organisations. It also includes seven decision heuristics, for example not being aggressive in a competitive market amounts to falling behind.

For questions that depend on facts, the skill tells the agent to run web searches first and reason from what it finds, rather than relying on memory. It is a perspective-simulation prompt built from public statements. It is not a source of verified statements by the real person.

How to install the skill

You can download the ZIP from this page and install it in one of two ways. In Claude Code, unzip it into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want it only for that project.

In the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, then Skills, and upload the ZIP there. Keep the full skill folder together, because the skill includes research reference files under references/research/ as well as SKILL.md and FIDELITY.md.

• Personal install (Claude Code): ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install (Claude Code): .claude/skills/ inside your project
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

How to trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. The skill activates when your request contains phrases such as 用张一鸣的视角 (use Zhang Yiming's perspective), 张一鸣会怎么看 (how would Zhang Yiming see this), or zhang yiming perspective. Plainer wording also works, such as 帮我用张一鸣的角度想想 (think about it from Zhang Yiming's angle), 如果是字节会怎么做 (what would ByteDance do), or 切换到张一鸣 (switch to Zhang Yiming).

When it activates, the agent answers in the first person and gives its view directly. It states the disclaimer that it is inferring views from public statements only once, at first activation. To leave the persona, say 退出 (exit), 切回正常 (switch back to normal), 不用扮演了 (no need to role-play) or stop.

• Use the trigger phrases above, or simply ask 一鸣怎么选择 (how would Yiming choose)
• Say 退出 or stop to return to a normal AI voice

Examples of questions to ask

Good questions name a concrete product, company, market or decision. The skill's workflow asks the agent to research factual questions first, so a specific question gives it something to check. For example, you could ask whether a Chinese social app can succeed in overseas markets, and the agent will search for current user and market data, then frame the answer around information distribution efficiency, whether recommendation logic works across cultures, whether there is a data flywheel, and what localisation requires.

For abstract questions such as how to judge whether a candidate can handle unfamiliar problems, the agent works from its mental models directly without a search step.

• Factual: How would Zhang Yiming think about a product's market expansion? (the agent will search first)
• Organisational: 用张一鸣的视角 look at why our weekly reports have become a status-update ritual
• Abstract: 如果是字节会怎么做 when deciding whether to go all-in on one bet

What the skill needs and safety notes

The agent needs to support SKILL.md skills, for example Claude Code, the Claude apps, or a compatible agent. The workflow instructs the agent to use a web search tool for factual questions, so you need web search access enabled for the best results.

The skill does not run scripts. It does use the network, because the web searches it asks for go out to the internet. Check what your agent's web tool sends before you use the skill with private or confidential details.

The skill is designed to avoid taking positions on political or regulatory questions, so it offers little analysis there. Do not rely on it for decisions with legal, financial or employment consequences that need professional advice.

• Runs scripts: no
• Uses network: yes (web search for factual questions)
• Requires web search tool access for fact-based answers

Tips for better answers

Give the agent specifics. The skill's own guidance asks for numbers when a question is broad, such as headcount, number of management layers, and how many steps information takes from front-line staff to the CEO. Answers improve when you supply those facts.

Treat the answers as a structured argument to test, not as Zhang Yiming's own words. The skill itself says answers can be mistaken for his real views, and it is designed to infer views from public statements. Ask it to show its reasoning on the points you care about, and check any factual claim it makes against the sources it searched.

• Name the product, market, or team involved
• Supply numbers when you have them
• Check factual claims against the sources the agent searched