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Working Backwards

Checked
pmprompt·vlatest·other·MIT

This skill generates creative content by starting with a desired outcome and then crafting the steps needed to achieve it – useful for brainstorming & problem-solving.

Repository

Install on your platform

Showing Claude Code. One command installs this skill into any of the agents below.

  1. 1

    Run this in your project

    terminal
    $ npx skills add pmprompt/claude-plugin-product-management --skill working-backwards -a claude-code

  2. Uses the open-source skills CLI and needs Node.js. Add -g to install it for your user instead of this project.

What we know about this skill

Publisher

pmprompt

Taken from the source listing. We haven't verified who controls this account.

Install target

Live repository

Not pinned. Installing fetches whatever the repository holds at the time you run the command.

No human has reviewed this code. The checks below are a static scan of the files at one commit — nobody has run this skill or judged whether it works. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent, so read the source before you install it.

Automated safety checks

scanned

This skill passed all 6 checks. We read its files at one commit and looked for the things that make a skill dangerous to run — not for whether it works.

  • Declares what it does: passed

    SKILL.md parses and declares a name and a description.

    SKILL.md exists, its frontmatter parses, and it declares a name and a description.

  • No undeclared network calls: passed

    Makes no network calls.

    Every host the skill dials — from its scripts, its config endpoints or the commands it tells the agent to run — is either well-known package and API infrastructure or declared in its own frontmatter. Links in documentation are not counted.

  • No obfuscated payloads: passed

    No encoded or obfuscated payloads.

    No base64, hex or compressed blob is decoded and then executed, and no encoded shell commands.

  • No credential access: passed

    Reads no keys, tokens, keychains or credential files.

    Neither the code nor the SKILL.md instructions read SSH keys, cloud credentials, keychains, token stores, browser cookie databases or dotfiles that hold secrets.

  • No pipe-to-shell installers: passed

    No pipe-to-shell or download-and-run installers.

    No `curl … | sh` pattern, in the code or in the instructions, that runs code fetched at run time.

  • Pinned to a commit: passed

    Scanned pmprompt/claude-plugin-product-management at 3114dbe33f.

    The exact upstream commit SHA that was scanned is recorded, so the result refers to specific bytes.

Commit
3114dbe33f
Manifest
skills/working-backwards/SKILL.md
Scanned
1 file, 52 lines
This is a static scan, not a review. It reads the skill's files; it does not run them, and it cannot tell you whether the skill is any good or whether the code does what its description says. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent.
What each check looks for →

About this skill

The working-backwards skill enables AI agents to reverse-engineer product strategies by starting with a desired end-state and deriving the necessary steps, constraints, and decisions required to achieve it. It facilitates structured planning sessions where the agent acts as a strategic partner to validate assumptions before execution begins.

When to use it

  • Strategic Planning: When defining a new feature roadmap or product launch, starting with the target outcome rather than current tasks.
  • Requirement Validation: To test if proposed constraints or technical limitations are feasible for reaching specific business goals.
  • Problem Solving: When stuck on how to solve a complex problem, working backward from the solution to identify missing pieces.
  • Scenario Simulation: To explore "what-if" scenarios by defining a future state and tracing the logical path required to get there.

Key capabilities

  • Reverse-engineers action plans from defined end goals.
  • Identifies necessary prerequisites and dependencies for success.
  • Challenges assumptions by testing if the current starting point aligns with the desired outcome.
  • Structures complex problems into linear, achievable steps.

Example prompts

  • "We want to increase user retention by 20% in Q3. Working backwards from that goal, what specific features and user behaviors must we enable?"
  • "Our target is a $1M ARR run rate by next year. Walk me through the backward planning required to hit this number based on our current pricing model."
  • "I need to launch a mobile app in six months. Start with the successful launch criteria and work backwards to identify the critical milestones we cannot miss."

Tips & gotchas

Ensure you provide a clear, measurable end-state definition; vague goals will result in generic backward plans. This skill is best used for high-level strategy or complex problem decomposition rather than granular daily task lists.