Multi-agent collaborative debate producing visible round-by-round transcripts with real intellectual friction.
Asking an AI to give you multiple perspectives usually produces a single voice wearing different hats. The "devil's advocate" agrees with the main position at the end. The "skeptic" shares no domain expertise with the topic at hand. You get the appearance of debate without the actual friction that makes it useful.
Council composes 4-6 custom agents via ComposeAgent with domain expertise and personality traits tailored to the specific question — never generic types. Those agents run in parallel within each round, read each other's actual arguments, and respond to them directly. Three sequential rounds let positions evolve through genuine friction. The DEBATE workflow produces a full round-by-round transcript plus synthesis; QUICK produces first-round positions for a fast sanity check. The collaborative-adversarial framing keeps it aimed at finding the best path rather than just attacking, which separates it from RedTeam.
What you say to your DA, and what the Council skill actually does.
The thinking, frameworks, and architecture that distinguish this skill from a generic version of the same task.
Runs a multi-agent debate. Custom-composed agents discuss a topic over rounds, respond to each other's actual points, and surface insights through real intellectual friction. You get a visible round-by-round transcript plus a synthesis. DEBATE runs three rounds; QUICK runs one for a fast perspective check.
When you ask one model for an opinion, you get one frame and one set of blind spots. Asking for "pros and cons" gives you a flat list with no one actually pushing back. Real deliberation needs distinct experts who disagree on the merits and argue it out, so the weak parts of an idea get exposed before you commit. Generic built-in agents all sound the same and produce bland agreement; this skill composes topic-specific agents that create genuine friction.
Custom-composed agents discuss topics in rounds, respond to each other's points, and surface insights through intellectual friction.
| Workflow | Purpose | Rounds | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEBATE | Full structured discussion | 3 | Complete transcript + synthesis |
| QUICK | Fast perspective check | 1 | Initial positions only |
| File | Content |
|---|---|
CouncilMembers.md |
How to compose custom agents for councils (ComposeAgent) |
RoundStructure.md |
Three-round debate structure and timing |
OutputFormat.md |
Transcript format templates |
Origin: Best decisions emerge from diverse perspectives challenging each other. Not just collecting opinions - genuine intellectual friction where domain-specific experts respond to each other's actual points.
Agents: Every council uses custom-composed agents via the Agents skill. This gives each member a unique voice, personality, and domain expertise tailored to the topic. Generic built-in agents produce generic debate. Custom agents produce sharp, informed debate.
Speed: Parallel execution within rounds, sequential between rounds. A 3-round debate of 4 agents = 12 agent calls but only 3 sequential waits. Complete in 40-90 seconds.
"Council: Should we use WebSockets or SSE?"
-> Compose 4 custom agents with relevant traits (real-time, frontend, ops, research)
-> DEBATE workflow -> 3-round transcript
"Quick council check: Is this API design reasonable?"
-> Compose 4 custom agents with API-relevant traits
-> QUICK workflow -> Fast perspectives
"Council: Is AI overhyped?"
-> Compose agents: AI builder, security skeptic, pragmatic engineer, evidence analyst
-> DEBATE workflow -> 3-round transcript
Depends on:
Works well with:
Last Updated: 2026-03-18
Workflows/`Workflows/Debate.md`.md Full structured debate (3 rounds, visible transcript)
Workflows/`Workflows/Quick.md`.md Quick consensus check (1 round, fast)
Workflows/RedTeam skill.md Pure adversarial analysis
Say any of these to your DA and PAI activates the Council skill automatically:
Or invoke explicitly:
Skill("Council")Auxiliary files the skill loads at runtime — frameworks, guides, configs.
The thinkers, books, frameworks, and research this skill is built on. The ideas belong to them — the integration belongs to PAI.
Install PAI on your machine — your DA gets the Council skill plus 44 others, all hooked into one Life OS.