Files
claude-skills/dist-hermes/productivity/recommend-dont-menu/SKILL.md
vitya 82f82a2036 feat(hermes): mvp-coverage — 9 skills converted to Hermes format
- mapping.yaml: 7 pending → auto (setup-tasks, using-tasks, setup-wiki,
  using-wiki, using-projects-meta, using-context7, project-bootstrap,
  recommend-dont-menu). pending count now 0.

- dist-hermes/ populated:
  software-development: project-bootstrap (+ assets)
  productivity: recommend-dont-menu, setup-tasks, using-tasks
  research: setup-wiki, using-wiki
  mcp: using-context7, using-projects-meta

- active-platform replace-rule verified: Windows+PowerShell → Linux+bash
  in body SKILL.md (frontmatter description unchanged by design).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-07 10:12:58 +03:00

2.8 KiB

name, version, description
name version description
recommend-dont-menu 0.1.0 Use during design discussions, brainstorming, architecture reviews, or any "what should we do" question — give one argued recommendation with explicit trade-offs, not a multiple-choice menu. Override of superpowers:brainstorming default. Works on any agent — pure response-style rule, no tool mappings needed.

recommend-dont-menu

One recommendation, not a menu. When the user asks "what should we do?" or "which is better?", give your best choice with reasoning and trade-offs. Don't enumerate A/B/C/D options — menus slow down decision-making when one option is clearly better.

When this runs

At session start — when CLAUDE.md contains any trigger line:

  • prefer single recommendations
  • recommend, don't menu
  • argued recommendations
  • give me your best shot

On explicit reference — when user says "give me a recommendation", "don't menu", "what do you think?", or close variants.

Default mode

For design questions, architecture choices, "what should we do" queries:

Я рекомендую X, потому что Y₁, Y₂. Trade-off: Z. Возражения?

Only mention alternatives if:

  • They're genuinely close to the recommended option, OR
  • They carry an important trade-off the user should weigh

Then, briefly:

Если важно W — лучше X', но добавляет сложность; иначе X.

Don't enumerate options for the sake of appearing comprehensive. Menus are noise when one option dominates — they force the user to read through losing choices and bury your reasoning behind an oblique list instead of a responsible recommendation.

Override

This skill overrides superpowers:brainstorming where that skill prefers multiple-choice options. User instructions > skill defaults.

If superpowers:brainstorming is active in the session, this skill's response style takes precedence for design/brainstorming questions.

Cross-agent applicability

This skill is pure response-style — it works on any agent (Claude, Gemini, Copilot) without tool mappings. No references/copilot-tools.md or equivalent needed.

Why this exists

The pattern emerged from iterative refinement across claude-skills brainstorm sessions and .meeting-room/ discussions. When agents dump 4-option menus for every question, users skim or disengage. A single argued recommendation with clear trade-offs leads to faster convergence and better decisions. When alternatives are genuinely competitive, mention them — but don't manufacture variants.

Reference

Original rule lived in ~/.claude/CLAUDE.md as a per-machine instruction. Moving to a skill makes it portable: all machines bootstrapped with project-bootstrap inherit it, and cross-agent compatibility is explicit.