# Scope Hammer > Cut brainstorm output to a shippable MVP: delete, mock, reuse, or ship. - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-carlkibler-agent-skills-scope-hammer` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [carlkibler](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/carlkibler) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [carlkibler](https://github.com/carlkibler) - **Source:** https://github.com/carlkibler/agent-skills/tree/main/skills/scope-hammer ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-carlkibler-agent-skills-scope-hammer ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # Scope Hammer The brainstorm produced 30 ideas. The scope hammer asks: which 5 do you actually need to ship? Companion to `wide-open-brainstorm`. Where brainstorm goes wide, scope-hammer goes ruthless. ## When to Use - After a brainstorm session - When a feature list has grown unmanageable - When the team is debating too many options and needs a forcing function - When "MVP" has quietly expanded to "everything" - When someone asks "what's the minimum we need to launch?" ## When NOT to Use - Before brainstorming (you need ideas before you can kill them) - When the goal is exhaustive requirements gathering - When stakeholders need to see all options (use brainstorm output; this skill produces the answer) --- ## Phase 1: Load the Input Accept one of: - The output of a wide-open-brainstorm session (pasted or from context) - A feature list, backlog, or spec - A verbal description ("we're thinking of building X with features A, B, C, D, E...") If the input is vague, ask: "Give me the list of features or ideas you want me to scope." Extract the **core goal** first: "What does this product need to do to be worth using on day one?" ## Phase 2: Classify Each Item For every idea or feature in the input, apply exactly one classification: ### Classifications **DELETE** — This will never be in the product. Reasons: - Adds complexity without adding core value - Solves a problem users don't have yet - Duplicates something else in the list - Is actually a distraction from the core loop - Would require significant infrastructure not justified by usage **MOCK** — The user thinks they need this, but a fake version will do for launch. Examples: - Manual process behind a button (instead of automation) - Static content instead of dynamic CMS - CSV import instead of API integration - Human review instead of AI (at first) - Hardcoded list instead of user-configured settings **ALREADY EXISTS** — A standard library, tool, or service already does this. Don't build it. Examples: - Auth → use an auth provider - Payments → use Stripe - Email → use Resend/Postmark - Analytics → use Plausible/PostHog - Search → use Algolia (or Postgres full-text for small scale) **SHIP** — This is core. Users cannot get value without it. Ship this first. ### Classification Rules - Everything starts as DELETE. Earn its way to SHIP. - MOCK is underused. Push more items to MOCK. - If you can't describe why a SHIP item directly serves day-one user value, reconsider. - Maximum 5 SHIP items for an MVP. If you have 8, go back and mock or delete 3. ## Phase 3: Parallel Ruthlessness Check Launch a second analysis as a subagent with the mandate: "Here is the proposed MVP scope (SHIP items only). Challenge it. Find: (1) SHIP items that could be MOCKed for launch without users noticing, (2) SHIP items that are actually implicit in other SHIP items, (3) anything that will block day-one launch but isn't in the SHIP list." Incorporate findings into the final output. ## Phase 4: MVP Specification Produce: ### The Core Loop One paragraph: what does the user do from first launch to first value? This is the path the MVP must make possible. Everything else is optional. ### SHIP Items (numbered, max 5) For each: what it does, why it's required (not just nice-to-have), estimated complexity (S/M/L/XL). ### MOCK Items (numbered) For each: what we'd fake, how we'd fake it, when we'd replace it with real implementation. ### ALREADY EXISTS Items (numbered) For each: which tool/service handles it, link if obvious. ### DELETE Items (brief list) Just names — no need to justify each one in detail. "These don't make the cut for v1." ### Launch Sequence Estimate Rough order of implementation: what must be built first (blocking), what can be built in parallel, what can be built post-launch. ### The Honest Summary One paragraph: "To launch this, you need to build X, Y, and Z. Everything else is a future version. The first version can be live in [rough estimate] if you start with [first thing]." ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [carlkibler](https://github.com/carlkibler) - **Source:** [carlkibler/agent-skills](https://github.com/carlkibler/agent-skills) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-carlkibler-agent-skills-scope-hammer - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/carlkibler - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.