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What-If Oracle

Stress-tests a research plan by structured what-if scenarios with assumptions, evidence and triggers

Source Download skill
Repository
K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills
Stars
55,780
Licence
MIT
Files
2 files

What it does

Once installed, the agent walks through a research or project decision by exploring a small set of possible futures, such as best case, expected case, worst case, a surprise disruption, a contrarian view, and knock-on effects. For each scenario it records assumptions, the evidence behind them, and observable warning signs with a planned response. It is explicitly not a forecasting or statistics tool: the scenarios are narratives, and the skill tells the agent not to invent probabilities, effect sizes or simulation results.

Great for

  • Researchers planning experiments who want to anticipate attrition, reagent shortages or failed method transfer
  • Lab or project leads preparing contingency plans with clear triggers and owners
  • Students structuring a research proposal's risk section

Skip it if

  • Questions needing a real power calculation, causal estimate or numerical simulation, since the skill says scenario prose must not substitute for those analyses
  • General business, personal or software architecture decisions, which the skill says are out of scope
  • Anyone expecting calibrated probabilities; the outputs are exploratory and the skill warns that narratives do not establish that a mechanism will occur

Try asking

  • “What if sample attrition in our cohort is 30% higher than planned? Build scenarios and triggers for the next month.”
  • “What if our assay fails to transfer to the new instrument at the partner site? Compare contingency options.”
  • “Stress-test my research plan under uncertainty and list the decision triggers I should monitor.”
Step-by-step guide: how to use What-If OracleInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 2 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    what-if-oracle.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip what-if-oracle.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip what-if-oracle.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

  • Give a concrete decision, the planned value and the alternative value, plus budget or timeline limits, so the scenarios are operational.
  • Supply your own observed data and dates; the agent labels unsupported inputs as assumed rather than observed.
  • Treat the output as a structured thinking aid and verify any external facts it cites yourself.

What's inside

  • references/scenario-templates.md
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-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.