# Grill Me

> **TL;DR.** Grill Me is a Claude Code skill that runs a relentless, one-question-at-a-time interview to pressure-test a plan or design before a single line of code gets written, forcing shared understanding between developer and AI agent.

- **Category:** AI / Developer Tools / Agent Skills
- **Stage:** rising
- **Age:** 139 days
- **Origin date:** 2026-02-25
- **First detected:** 2026-07-14
- **Canonical URL:** https://earlyterms.com/term/grill-me
- **Sources:** 8 primary URLs

## Definition

Grill Me is a Claude Code skill that runs a relentless, one-question-at-a-time interview to pressure-test a plan or design before a single line of code gets written, forcing shared understanding between developer and AI agent.

Developer-educator Matt Pocock added it to his [mattpocock/skills](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills) repo on February 25, 2026, but the term truly took off after his [March 23 tweet](https://x.com/mattpocockuk/status/2036076132924100760) claimed the repo had hit 9,000 stars overnight — by July it had climbed past 170,000, spawning forks like grill-me-codex and vibe-check.

## Analogy

Like a contractor who won't pour the foundation until you've settled every paint color and outlet placement.

## Why it's emerging now

Matt Pocock's grill-me skill — a relentless pre-code interview for Claude Code — went from a quiet productivity trick to a phenomenon after his March 23, 2026 tweet claimed mattpocock/skills had hit 9,000 stars overnight; by July the repo topped 170,000 stars, and forks like grill-me-codex and vibe-check show builders extending the pattern well beyond one author's workflow.

## Related terms

- *related:* Claude Code
- *child:* grilling
- *related:* grill-with-docs
- *child:* grill-me-codex
- *competitor:* vibe-check
- *related:* Agent Harness
- *related:* Verification Loop
- *related:* OpenClaw Skill
- *parent:* spec-driven development
- *parent:* Claude Skills
- *related:* Context Engineering

## Sources

1. [mattpocock/skills — GitHub repo](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills)
2. [grill-me SKILL.md (canonical source)](https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/blob/main/skills/productivity/grill-me/SKILL.md)
3. [Matt Pocock: 'My grill-me skill went viral' (Mar 23, 2026)](https://x.com/mattpocockuk/status/2036076132924100760)
4. [Matt Pocock: '/grill-me is my most popular skill ever' (May 14, 2026)](https://x.com/mattpocockuk/status/2054808143041908936)
5. [AI Hero: My 'Grill Me' Skill Went Viral](https://www.aihero.dev/my-grill-me-skill-has-gone-viral)
6. [Hacker News: Anatomy of the .claude/ folder (627 pts, grill-me discussion in comments)](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47543139)
7. [grill-me-codex — cross-model fork](https://github.com/chaseai-yt/grill-me-codex)
8. [vibe-check — non-engineer fork](https://github.com/TexasBedouin/vibe-check)

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_Generated by EarlyTerms · https://earlyterms.com/term/grill-me_