PROBE.md

Sharpen ideas, thoughts, and decisions with Probe, the Claude Code plugin for better thinking.

Six-lens critical analysis for Claude Code. Use /probe to have agents sharpen ideas at any stage, like when your thinking is still raw and messy or after each draft is written. It can run six critical agents individually or in parallel and synthesizes an actionable verdict.

Think your best. Probe it first.

Source

Install

in Claude Code (recommended) 
/plugin marketplace add ds1/probe
/plugin install probe@schmitz
macOS / Linux / WSL / Git Bash 
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ds1/probe/master/install.sh | bash
Windows PowerShell 
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ds1/probe/master/install.ps1 | iex

The plugin gives you versioned, updatable commands. The Bash and PowerShell one-liners copy the same eight commands into ~/.claude/commands/probe/. Either way you invoke them as /probe:go, /probe:clarify, and so on. Run the command below.

/probe:go <input> [output-directory]

The input can be a file path or pasted text, and the output directory is optional (defaults to ./probe-output/). Six agents read your input, each applies one lens, and a seventh step consolidates everything into probe-synthesis.md: an executive verdict, an assumption risk matrix, the alternatives the doc skipped, and a validate-before-proceeding checklist.

The six lenses

Each runs as an independent agent with no shared context, so findings do not converge prematurely.

01

Clarify Thinking

"What do you mean by...? What is the source of this idea?"

Pins down vague terms, traces where conclusions came from, and exposes reasoning chains that skip a step.

02

Challenge Assumptions

"What are you assuming? What if you were wrong?"

Surfaces the hidden premises the argument rests on and tests whether the conclusion survives them being false.

03

Evidence Basis

"What supports this? What would disprove it?"

Audits every claim for its source, flags the unsourced and the self-contradicting, and names what is missing.

04

Alternative Viewpoints

"What is the counter-argument? Who would disagree?"

Steel-mans the options the document left off the table and voices the stakeholders it did not consult.

05

Implications

"What follows from this? What are the long-term effects?"

Traces first and second-order consequences, including the cost of the recommendation turning out to be wrong.

06

Question the Question

"Is this the right question to be asking?"

Checks the framing itself, whether a prior question should be settled first, and whether the scope is set correctly.

See it work

A complete run against a realistic proposal (adopt a paid feature-flag SaaS). It looks reasonable on a first read; the probe finds the bundled requirement, the undated price, the "in-house is free" comparison it contradicts in its own next sentence, and the alternatives it never listed.

Read the example walkthrough

Every command

Run the full probe, or reach for a single lens when you already know what you want to examine.

/probe:goLaunch all six lenses in parallel and synthesize the findings
/probe:clarifyClarify thinking and trace the origin of ideas
/probe:assumeChallenge hidden assumptions
/probe:evidenceExamine evidence quality and sources
/probe:povExplore alternative viewpoints
/probe:implicationsTrace implications and consequences
/probe:metaQuestion the question itself
/probe:synthSynthesize evaluation files you already have

Add Probe to Claude Code

Two commands in your terminal, then run /probe:go on your next idea.

/plugin marketplace add ds1/probe
/plugin install probe@schmitz