A pack of Claude Code agent skills that walks an indie hacker through validating a product idea in 8 steps, without writing any code — competitor analysis, smoke tests, landing pages, pre-sales, and a hard go/no-go gate at the end.
Based on Larry Qu, Validate Your Indie Hacker Idea in 7 Days (Without Writing Code), CalmOps.
validate-idea-skills/
├── skills/
│ ├── validate-idea-orchestrator/ # Routes to the right step-skill, enforces the gate
│ ├── framework-selection/ # Step 0 — pick the validation method for the idea
│ ├── step-1-problem-and-audience/ # Problem statement, segments, watering holes
│ ├── step-2-competitor-analysis/ # Advantages/disadvantages of competitors, the gap
│ ├── step-3-value-proposition/ # Headline + 3 bullets + proof
│ ├── step-4-landing-page/ # No-code page, live on a custom domain
│ ├── step-5-smoke-test/ # Analytics + conversion event + fake door
│ ├── step-6-drive-traffic/ # Communities, outreach, Show HN
│ ├── step-7-pre-sell/ # Stripe payment links, real intent signal
│ ├── step-8-decide/ # GO / PIVOT / KILL on quantitative thresholds
│ └── customer-interviews/ # 15-min Mom Test discovery script
├── references/
│ ├── validation-metrics.md # Thresholds + validation log template
│ ├── no-code-tools.md # Landing page / payment / analytics stack
│ └── validation-pitfalls.md # Leading questions, vanity, sunk cost, etc.
├── agents/
│ └── validation-coach.md # Spawnable coach persona
├── .claude/commands/
│ └── validate.md # /validate slash command
├── .claude-plugin/
│ ├── plugin.json
│ └── marketplace.json
├── LICENSE
└── README.md
Local / development:
git clone https://github.com/elcodabra/validate-idea-skills.git
claude --plugin-dir /path/to/validate-idea-skillsMarketplace (once published):
/plugin marketplace add elcodabra/validate-idea-skills
/plugin install validate-idea-skills@validate-idea-skills
Skills are plain Markdown — copy any SKILL.md into your agent's rules / skills directory, or reference the whole skills/ folder. See addyosmani/agent-skills for per-tool setup notes.
/validate
Or just say "validate my idea: [one sentence]" — the validate-idea-orchestrator skill auto-triggers.
The orchestrator:
- Runs Step 0 (
framework-selection) to pick the validation method, then creates avalidation-log.mdin the working directory. - Routes you through Steps 1 → 8 using the matching skill at each step.
- Enforces the rule that no product code is written until the Step 8 decision is GO.
- Writes a quantitative GO / PIVOT / KILL verdict at the end.
| Step | Skill | Exit criteria |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | framework-selection |
Idea classified + validation framework chosen + per-step keep/skip/extend plan + kill-switch named |
| 1 | step-1-problem-and-audience |
Problem statement + 2–3 segments + watering holes with verbatim quotes |
| 2 | step-2-competitor-analysis |
Advantages/disadvantages per competitor + named gap + price band |
| 3 | step-3-value-proposition |
Headline + 3 bullets + 1 real proof element |
| 4 | step-4-landing-page |
Live page on a no-code builder + custom domain + stated price |
| 5 | step-5-smoke-test |
Analytics + conversion event + UTM scheme + fake-door post-click |
| 6 | step-6-drive-traffic |
≥100 qualified visitors from ≥3 channels + 5 interview slots |
| 7 | step-7-pre-sell |
Stripe link live + personal outreach + ≥3 declines logged |
| 8 | step-8-decide |
Written GO / PIVOT / KILL backed by the validation log |
No production code, no backend, no schema, no MVP feature work until Step 8 says GO.
spec-driven-development (or whatever build skill you prefer) takes over only after a GO — and even then, scope is constrained to fulfilling the people who paid.
- Larry Qu — original 7-step framework at CalmOps
- Addy Osmani — agent-skills structure and conventions this pack follows
- Rob Fitzpatrick — The Mom Test (basis of the
customer-interviewsskill)
MIT — see LICENSE.