/cs:post-mortem <decision

/cs:post-mortem — Honest Retrospective

by alirezarezvani · MIT license · ★ 26,349 on GitHub · updated Aug 30

/cs:post-mortem <decision> — Honest retrospective on an executed decision, scored against original assumptions and dissent. Closes the strategic sprint loop.

---
name: "post-mortem"
description: "/cs: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-committed success metrics."
---

# /cs:post-mortem — Honest Retrospective

**Command:** `/cs: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

```
/cs:office-hours  →  /cs:brief  →  /cs:boardroom  →  /cs:decide  →  /cs:execute  →  /cs:post-mortem
                                                                                       ↑ you are here
```

Overview

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.

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills --skill post-mortem -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (manual)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && curl -sL https://codeload.github.com/alirezarezvani/claude-skills/tar.gz/19392f7a0826 \
  | tar -xz -C ~/.claude/skills --strip-components=3 claude-skills-19392f7a0826/c-level-agents/skills/post-mortem

Windows (PowerShell)

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force "$HOME\.claude\skills" | Out-Null; Invoke-WebRequest "https://m.agentalley.io/zip/5e135abd26cd9936c1c6/post-mortem.zip" -OutFile "$env:TEMP\post-mortem.zip"; Expand-Archive "$env:TEMP\post-mortem.zip" -DestinationPath "$HOME\.claude\skills" -Force

Claude.ai / desktopDownload the ZIP and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

Files included

SKILL.md3.8 KB

Read the files here

alirezarezvani/19392f71 file

SKILL.md3.8 KB

Shared references3SKILL.md reads these from elsewhere in the repo. Not in the ZIP.

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/cs:post-mortem — Honest Retrospective

Command: /cs: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

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

When to Run

At the 90-day checkpoint (auto-scheduled by /cs: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 /cs:decide)
The execution plan (output of /cs: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: `/cs: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 /cs:decide time, eliminate that move. The numbers either matched or they didn't.

Why Revisit Dissent

The dissent column from /cs: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

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

Skill: decision-logger
Agent: cs-chief-of-staff
Sibling: /em:postmortem — adversarial single-decision post-mortem

Version: 1.0.0

1	---
2	name: "post-mortem"
3	description: "/cs: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-committed success metrics."
4	---
5
6	# /cs:post-mortem — Honest Retrospective
7
8	Command: `/cs:post-mortem <decision-path>`
9
10	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.
11
12	## Pipeline Position
13
14	```
15	/cs:office-hours → /cs:brief → /cs:boardroom → /cs:decide → /cs:execute → /cs:post-mortem
16	↑ you are here
17	```
18
19	## When to Run
20
21	- At the 90-day checkpoint (auto-scheduled by `/cs:decide`)
22	- When a kill criterion triggers
23	- After a major decision is reversed
24	- Quarterly on all decisions of the past quarter
25
26	## Inputs
27
28	- The decision record (output of `/cs:decide`)
29	- The execution plan (output of `/cs:execute`)
30	- Actual outcomes (metrics, events, customer signals)
31
32	## Output: Post-Mortem Record
33
34	Saved to `~/.claude/postmortems/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md`:
35
36	```markdown
37	# Post-Mortem: <decision title>
38	Decision date: YYYY-MM-DD
39	Post-mortem date: YYYY-MM-DD
40	Status: WIN / PARTIAL / LOSS / MIXED
41
42	## Outcome Scoring (against pre-committed criteria)
43
44	\| Success Criterion \| Threshold \| Actual \| Met? \|
45	\|---\|---\|---\|---\|
46	\| <metric 1> \| <threshold> \| <actual> \| ✅ / ❌ \|
47	\| <metric 2> \| <threshold> \| <actual> \| ✅ / ❌ \|
48
49	\| Kill Criterion \| Threshold \| Actual \| Triggered? \|
50	\|---\|---\|---\|---\|
51	\| <metric> \| <threshold> \| <actual> \| ✅ / ❌ \|
52
53	Overall: WIN / PARTIAL / LOSS / MIXED
54
55	## What We Got Right
56	- <factor 1>
57	- <factor 2>
58
59	## What We Got Wrong
60	- <factor 1>
61	- <factor 2>
62
63	## Preserved Dissent — Revisited
64	[Original dissent from the boardroom memo, scored:]
65
66	- <dissenter>: <original concern>
67	- Did it materialize? YES / NO / PARTIAL
68	- Cost if YES: <quantified impact>
69	- Lesson: <one sentence>
70
71	## Assumption Audit
72	[Original brief's assumptions, scored:]
73
74	- Assumption 1: <text>
75	- Held? YES / NO / PARTIAL
76	- Why: <explanation>
77
78	## Process Lessons
79	- Phase 2 isolation worked? YES / NO
80	- Devil's advocate concerns played out? YES / NO / PARTIAL
81	- Cadence was right? YES / TOO LOOSE / TOO TIGHT
82
83	## Forward Actions
84	- [ ] <change to operating system or routing logic>
85	- [ ] <new decision to make based on this learning>
86	- [ ] <update company-context.md>
87
88	## Status
89	- WIN → archive, log lesson
90	- LOSS → schedule follow-up boardroom: `/cs:brief` for the next call
91	```
92
93	## Why Pre-Committed Criteria Matter
94
95	The biggest temptation in post-mortems is retroactive justification: "we always knew X, that's why we did Y." Pre-committed criteria, signed at `/cs:decide` time, eliminate that move. The numbers either matched or they didn't.
96
97	## Why Revisit Dissent
98
99	The dissent column from `/cs: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.
100
101	## Routing
102
103	- `/cs:brief` — if the post-mortem surfaces a new decision
104	- `/cs:freeze` — if the post-mortem reveals a process gap that needs cooldown enforcement
105	- Updates to company-context.md via `cs-onboard`
106
107	## Related
108
109	- Skill: [`decision-logger`](../../../c-level-advisor/skills/decision-logger/SKILL.md)
110	- Agent: [`cs-chief-of-staff`](../../agents/cs-chief-of-staff.md)
111	- Sibling: [`/em:postmortem`](../../../c-level-advisor/executive-mentor/skills/postmortem/SKILL.md) — adversarial single-decision post-mortem
112
113	---
114
115	Version: 1.0.0
116