post-mortem – Writing & Content skill for AI agents

/c-level-agents:post-mortem [decision] — Honest retrospective on an executed decision, scored against original assumptions and dissent. Closes the strategic sprint loop. Use when a decision hits its 90-day review checkpoint or its kill criteria trigger — e.g. scoring last quarter's pricing change against its pre-commit

Writing & ContentSKILL.mdClaude Code · Codex · Hermes · DeepSeek

Install the post-mortem skill with one command

Pick the tool you use, copy the command and paste it in your terminal. The skill lands in that tool's skills folder and is ready in your next session.

Claude Code

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -fsSL https://skill.dn1nguoi.com/z/post-mortem-de67d.tgz | tar xz -C ~/.claude/skills

Call it in Claude Code: /post-mortem – then describe the task you want done.

Codex

mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills && curl -fsSL https://skill.dn1nguoi.com/z/post-mortem-de67d.tgz | tar xz -C ~/.codex/skills

Call it in Codex: $post-mortem – then describe the task you want done.

Hermes Agent

mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skills && curl -fsSL https://skill.dn1nguoi.com/z/post-mortem-de67d.tgz | tar xz -C ~/.hermes/skills

Call it in Hermes Agent: /post-mortem – then describe the task you want done.

DeepSeek

mkdir -p ~/.deepcode/skills && curl -fsSL https://skill.dn1nguoi.com/z/post-mortem-de67d.tgz | tar xz -C ~/.deepcode/skills

Call it in DeepSeek: /post-mortem – then describe the task you want done.

SKILL.md content

/c-level-agents:post-mortem — Honest Retrospective

Command: /c-level-agents:post-mortem <decision-path>

Closes the strategic sprint loop. Scores a decision against the success and kill criteria written before the decision (not retro-fitted) and revisits the preserved dissent. This is the rigor that compounds over time.

Pipeline Position

/c-level-agents:office-hours  →  /c-level-agents:brief  →  /c-level-agents:boardroom  →  /c-level-agents:decide  →  /c-level-agents:execute  →  /c-level-agents:post-mortem
                                                                                       ↑ you are here

When to Run

At the 90-day checkpoint (auto-scheduled by /c-level-agents:decide)
When a kill criterion triggers
After a major decision is reversed
Quarterly on all decisions of the past quarter

Inputs

The decision record (output of /c-level-agents:decide)
The execution plan (output of /c-level-agents:execute)
Actual outcomes (metrics, events, customer signals)

Output: Post-Mortem Record

Saved to ~/.claude/postmortems/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md:

# Post-Mortem: <decision title>
**Decision date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Post-mortem date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Status:** WIN / PARTIAL / LOSS / MIXED

## Outcome Scoring (against pre-committed criteria)

| Success Criterion | Threshold | Actual | Met? |
|---|---|---|---|
| <metric 1> | <threshold> | <actual> | ✅ / ❌ |
| <metric 2> | <threshold> | <actual> | ✅ / ❌ |

| Kill Criterion | Threshold | Actual | Triggered? |
|---|---|---|---|
| <metric> | <threshold> | <actual> | ✅ / ❌ |

**Overall:** WIN / PARTIAL / LOSS / MIXED

## What We Got Right
- <factor 1>
- <factor 2>

## What We Got Wrong
- <factor 1>
- <factor 2>

## Preserved Dissent — Revisited
[Original dissent from the boardroom memo, scored:]

- **<dissenter>:** <original concern>
  - **Did it materialize?** YES / NO / PARTIAL
  - **Cost if YES:** <quantified impact>
  - **Lesson:** <one sentence>

## Assumption Audit
[Original brief's assumptions, scored:]

- **Assumption 1:** <text>
  - **Held?** YES / NO / PARTIAL
  - **Why:** <explanation>

## Process Lessons
- **Phase 2 isolation worked?** YES / NO
- **Devil's advocate concerns played out?** YES / NO / PARTIAL
- **Cadence was right?** YES / TOO LOOSE / TOO TIGHT

## Forward Actions
- [ ] <change to operating system or routing logic>
- [ ] <new decision to make based on this learning>
- [ ] <update company-context.md>

## Status
- WIN → archive, log lesson
- LOSS → schedule follow-up boardroom: `/c-level-agents:brief` for the next call

Why Pre-Committed Criteria Matter

The biggest temptation in post-mortems is retroactive justification: "we always knew X, that's why we did Y." Pre-committed criteria, signed at /c-level-agents:decide time, eliminate that move. The numbers either matched or they didn't.

Why Revisit Dissent

The dissent column from /c-level-agents:boardroom is the single most useful piece of organizational memory. Most of the time, the dissenter was directionally right. Revisiting and scoring it builds calibration over years.

Routing

/c-level-agents:brief — if the post-mortem surfaces a new decision
/c-level-agents:freeze — if the post-mortem reveals a process gap that needs cooldown enforcement
Updates to company-context.md via cs-onboard

Skill: [decision-logger](${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/vendor/c-level-advisor/decision-logger/SKILL.md)
Agent: [cs-chief-of-staff](../../agents/cs-chief-of-staff.md)
Sibling: [/em:postmortem](../../../c-level-advisor/executive-mentor/skills/postmortem/SKILL.md) — adversarial single-decision post-mortem

---

Version: 1.0.0

Related skills

postmortem – /em:postmortem — Honest analysis of what went wrong. Use after a failed launch, missed…
slime – RL post-training for LLMs with Megatron and SGLang.
wp-plugin-rest-auth-bypass – Scan WordPress REST API plugin endpoints for unauthenticated state-changing operations —…
draft-my-comments – Write a LinkedIn comment that adds something the post did not have, not agreement. Use…
duplicate-content-checker – Duplicate Content Checker. Use when working with two or more texts or accessible pages.
eas-workflows – Use when writing or reviewing Expo EAS workflow YAML: inspect current schema and job…
elixir-pro – Write idiomatic Elixir code with OTP patterns, supervision trees, and Phoenix LiveView…
teams-meeting-pipeline – Teams meeting summaries, job replay, Graph subscriptions.

← Browse all skills