Gauntlet Mini Agent Skill

Build and test with the gauntlet-loop technique.

Context cost
10.3k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
7 files · 41.3 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence
MITthe author’s own terms
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Build and test with the gauntlet-loop technique. Convert a substantial prompt into a bounded worker/evaluator fan-out, then set it up and execute it end-to-end at the highest quality the session budget allows, tiering models per role (top-tier director/verifier where judgment decides the outcome; cheaper workers elsewhere). Use for requests mentioning a gauntlet/guantlet loop, worker-critic loops, fan-out subagents, multi-agent orchestration, parallel workers, iterative refinement, or building a complex deliverable through delegated work with evaluators and revision loops.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

productivity

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md11.5 kB · preview
--- name: gauntlet-mini ---
6# Gauntlet Mini
7
8Turn a "fan out agents until the result is amazing" request into a build-and-test machine: workers with clear ownership, evaluators with real evidence, and revision loops that run until the quality checks pass, bounded so the loop converges instead of wandering.
9
10The user invoked this skill because they want the technique applied. Default to running it. Fall back to a single agent only when the task is genuinely small or so tightly coupled that parallel workers would collide, and then just do the work well, noting the call in one line rather than lecturing about fit.
11
12## Mode
13
14- **Execute** (default): build the spec, run the gauntlet, deliver the tested result.
15- **Convert**: only when the user explicitly asks for just the prompt or spec. Return the copy-ready prompt without running it.
16- **Improve**: revise an existing gauntlet prompt, keeping useful constraints and cutting redundant agents or unbounded loops.
17
18## Set the session budget first
19
20A gauntlet spends the user's session usage limit (the 5-hour window on most plans) far faster than single-agent work, because fan-out multiplies every token. Before any fan-out, establish how much of the session the run may use:
21
22- **If the user already stated a budget** ("use 75% of my session limit", "keep this under a third of my session"), honor it and move on. Never re-ask.
23- **Otherwise, ask one question before building the spec** (use AskUserQuestion when available): *"How much of your remaining 5-hour session limit should this build use?"* with three options: **50% (recommended starting point)**, **75% (bigger builds)**, and **95% (maximum-quality run that leaves little session for anything else)**. Default to 50% if the user declines to choose or the session is non-interactive.
24- **Treat the chosen share as the run's hard budget.** Size the roster, model tiers, and cycle count to fit inside it. Check remaining usage at phase boundaries using whatever signal the harness provides (a remaining-token counter in context, /usage, or context telemetry); when no signal exists, estimate conservatively and say so.
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md1,752 words
Files7
LicenceMIT
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈180
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
10,145
on trigger
The instruction body and 6 supporting files, read only when the skill fires.
5.2%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 52% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

10.3k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Heavy. Teams tend to install this one per project rather than globally, and load it only when the job comes up.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

7 files, 41.3 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in. 4 files of its source are not in the download — listed after these, with why.

  • SKILL.md11.5 kB
  • LICENSE1.1 kB
  • README.md13.2 kB
  • codex/gauntlet-mini.md5.8 kB
  • gemini/gauntlet-mini.toml4.8 kB
  • references/evaluator-patterns.md2.4 kB
  • references/examples.md2.5 kB

Not in the download

Not carried is a type a skill download does not hold. Take them from its source.

  • assets/demo/receipts.pngnot carried
  • assets/social/budget-gauges.pngnot carried
  • assets/social/linkedin-poster.pngnot carried
  • assets/social-preview.pngnot carried
What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the download is 7 files — not the whole of its source: 4 files are left out. They are listed under the files, with why. The MIT licence covers the templates and examples as well as the instructions.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# Gauntlet Mini · 10.3k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/gauntlet-mini/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/gauntlet-mini" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/gauntlet-mini ] || { mv .claude/skills/gauntlet-mini "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/gauntlet-mini" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/gauntlet-mini"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add cyog941/gauntlet-mini

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/gauntlet-mini/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/gauntlet-mini/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/gauntlet-mini" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/gauntlet-mini ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/gauntlet-mini "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/gauntlet-mini" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/gauntlet-mini" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/gauntlet-mini/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where. Not in this download: 4 files of its source (the full list, and why). Take them from its source.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referencecyog941/gauntlet-mini

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

Reviews

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Who wrote it

CY
cyog941

Publishes on mcprush.

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