Skip to content
Get packs

Pre-Mortem Risk Analysis

Stress-test a PRD or launch plan by imagining failure and sorting risks by urgency

Source Download skill
Repository
phuryn/pm-skills
Stars
27,616
Licence
MIT
Files
1 file

What it does

When you ask the agent to review a product requirements document or launch plan, it pretends the launch has already failed and works backward to find what went wrong. It sorts possible problems into three groups: real threats (Tigers), overblown worries (Paper Tigers), and unspoken concerns the team should check (Elephants). It then ranks the real threats as must-fix before launch, fix within 30 days after launch, or just monitor, and drafts action plans with owners and dates for the must-fix items.

Great for

  • Product managers preparing a feature or product launch who want a structured risk review
  • Founders or small teams stress-testing a product plan before committing resources
  • Cross-functional teams who want engineering, design and go-to-market concerns surfaced in one document

Skip it if

  • Teams looking for a substitute for real market research or customer validation, since the output is based on the agent's reasoning and whatever the user supplies, not verified evidence
  • Anyone expecting it to check facts or competitor claims automatically, as web search is only used if the agent decides it is relevant and the skill does not specify sources

Try asking

  • “Run a pre-mortem on this PRD for our new onboarding flow before the 14-day launch”
  • “Stress-test our launch plan and tell me which risks are launch-blocking”
  • “Identify the unspoken worries in this product plan that the team should investigate”
  • “Categorize the risks in this roadmap as Tigers, Paper Tigers and Elephants and save the report as a markdown file”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Pre-Mortem Risk AnalysisInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    pre-mortem.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip pre-mortem.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip pre-mortem.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Paste or attach the full PRD or launch plan so the agent has the details it needs to judge risks rather than guessing
  • Ask for the analysis to be revisited 2-3 weeks before launch to confirm mitigations are on track, as the skill itself recommends
  • Treat the output as a discussion starter for your team; review Tigers and Elephants with the people who own each area

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from phuryn/pm-skills under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.