Individual skill
the-thesis-defense
Simulate your thesis defense before the real one — a committee of examiner archetypes probing YOUR actual thesis, the questions you hoped nobody would ask, and a debrief with preparation priorities. Use when asked simulate my thesis defense, grill me on my dissertation, what will my committee ask, or prep me for my viva. Produces the defense transcript with your answers stress-tested, the committee's private deliberation, and a debrief ranking the exposed weaknesses by preparability.
plugins/pm-students/skills/the-thesis-defense/SKILL.md
Source commit f7c90bc09ee05dc25cf257bdb1826f2c2552c2cb
What was checked
- Matches the observed repository HEAD
- Yes
- Scanner rules are current
- Yes
- Repository scan complete
- No
- Skill scan complete
- No
- Observed behavior
- Network or broad shell
- Last checked
- Nov 9, 2026
These are observations at the recorded commit, not a guarantee of safety. Review the source before running it.
Install this skill
Choose an agent in your Stack or copy a command below. Commands fetch the pinned commit and copy only this skill directory. Existing destinations are refused. Copying a command does not install anything.
An install command is unavailable: current rules, complete repository and skill scans, an eligible behavior level and a permitted license are required.
Repository context
- Repository stars (not skill ratings)
- 1,540
- Repository last updated
- Nov 10, 2026
- License
- MIT
Observed agent integration: No specific integration evidence. Standard SKILL.md installation does not imply verified compatibility.
- product-management Repository topic
- productivity Repository topic
- skills Repository topic
- claude-skills Repository topic
- agent-skills Repository topic
- chatgpt Repository topic
- claude-code Repository topic
- cursor Repository topic
- gemini Repository topic
- prompt-engineering Repository topic
- engineering Derived category
Files and excerpt
File metadata and permitted, redacted excerpts come from the recorded scan. Source links are pinned to that commit.
Browse files
SKILL.mdcore · 4,902 bytes
Read excerpt
# The Thesis Defense Skill
Every thesis has three or four questions its author prays nobody asks — and committees are selected for exactly the expertise that asks them. This skill runs the defense early: examiner archetypes with different agendas probing the actual thesis (methods, alternatives, scope, the gap between claims and evidence), pushing back on weak answers the way real committees do. Then it breaks character and turns every wobble into a preparation item.
## What This Skill Produces
- **The transcript** — 12–18 exchanges: questions, the candidate's plausible answers (or the user's real answers if they play along), and the follow-ups weak answers earn
- **The deliberation** — what the committee says after the candidate leaves the room
- **The debrief** — every exposed weakness ranked by preparability, with the answer-shape that would have held
## Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- **The thesis substance** — abstract, chapter summaries, or the full argument; central claim, methods, key findings. The committee probes only what's supplied — thin input gets a thin defense, and says so.