adversaria

Adversaria
Critical thinking platform for Claude Code

Usage · Agents · Skills · How It Works · Traditions · Install

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Adversaria is a Claude Code plugin for structured adversarial analysis. Three specialized agents argue, stress-test, and judge any idea using a shared argument graph, 10 reasoning traditions, and persistent memory that accumulates insight across sessions.

The name comes from the Latin adversaria: a notebook of observations. It also evokes adversarial reasoning, the deliberate practice of challenging ideas to strengthen them.

Usage

Adversaria works through agents that Claude automatically delegates to based on what you ask. You don't need to manage the workflow yourself.

Natural language (Claude delegates automatically):

Steelman the case for rewriting our API in Go
What could go wrong with this migration plan?
Give me a verdict on this proposal
Play devil's advocate on this architecture decision

@-mention (guarantees a specific agent runs):

@advocate build the strongest case for microservices here
@adversary tear apart this launch plan
@judge what survives scrutiny in this proposal?

Slash commands (invoke a skill directly):

/adversaria:steelman the case for server-side rendering
/adversaria:crucible this database migration plan
/adversaria:verdict on the Q3 product roadmap
/adversaria:devils-advocate this entire investment thesis

Session-wide (run an entire session as one agent):

claude --agent adversaria:advocate
claude --agent adversaria:adversary
claude --agent adversaria:judge

Agents

Three agents with distinct roles, each with persistent project memory that accumulates knowledge across sessions.

Advocate

Builds the strongest possible case for an idea with genuine conviction, then argues the complete opposite with equal force.

Tradition	Steelmanning, Dissoi Logoi
Model	Sonnet
Skill	adversaria:steelman
Memory	Project-scoped, persistent
Triggers	"steelman", "make the best case", "argue both sides", "defend this idea"

The advocate is not a summarizer and not a yes-man. A steelman that ignores obvious flaws is a straw man in disguise. The advocate addresses weaknesses by countering them, not hiding them.

Adversary

Finds every weakness, flaw, and failure mode. An authentic dissenter, not assigned devil's advocacy.

Tradition	Crucible, Red Team, Socratic Elenchus, Gadfly
Model	Sonnet
Skill	adversaria:crucible
Memory	Project-scoped, persistent
Triggers	"stress-test", "poke holes", "red team", "what could go wrong", "what am I missing"

[!NOTE] Psychologist Charlan Nemeth proved that assigned devil's advocacy is less effective than authentic dissent and can make people more entrenched. The adversary is an authentic dissenter who genuinely looks for flaws, not a performer going through the motions.

Judge

Renders a dispassionate verdict from the argument graph evidence. No advocacy in either direction.

Tradition	Roman Rota (appellate tribunal, est. 1171)
Model	Inherit
Skill	adversaria:verdict
Memory	Project-scoped, persistent
Triggers	"verdict", "bottom line", "final assessment", "what survives", "give it to me straight"

The judge reads what the advocate built and what the adversary found, then determines what survives scrutiny, what does not, and what remains unresolved. Every claim in the verdict cites graph state, not opinion.

Skills

Skills are the structured workflows that agents execute internally. They are also available as standalone slash commands.

Skill	What It Does	Used By
/adversaria:steelman	Build the strongest case for and against an idea. Register claims, assumptions, and evidence in the argument graph.	advocate
/adversaria:crucible	Socratic questioning, structural gap analysis, hostile review, and red team failure modes. Register weaknesses and mitigations.	adversary
/adversaria:verdict	Name the uncomfortable truth. Determine what survives scrutiny based on graph topology. Export the final verdict.	judge
/adversaria:devils-advocate	Orchestrate all three phases in sequence for a complete adversarial analysis.	all three

[!TIP] Skills compose through a shared argument graph that persists between runs. The steelman skill builds the graph, the crucible skill adds weaknesses to it, and the verdict skill reads the final state. Use /adversaria:devils-advocate to run all three in one pass.

How It Works