# Matt Pocock’s skills vs plain Claude Code on 3 small tasks. /grill-me was the useful one
Canonical: https://social-archive.org/gergan/SJru1sQg6d
Original URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/claudeskills/comments/1xminv9/matt_pococks_skills_vs_plain_claude_code_on_3/
Author: vinishkapoor
Platform: reddit
Share mode: full
## Content
Matt Pocock’s skills (mattpocock/skills, MIT) are 27 Claude Code skills built around planning, testing and debugging. They were run against plain Claude Code on a tiny store project with a cart and checkout. Claude Code 2.1.312, Sonnet, skills version 1.3.2, one run per task. * bug fix (coupon discounting more on every refresh): plain $0.08 / 20 sec, /diagnosing-bugs $0.12 / 28 sec. Both fixed it and added a regression test * feature (coupon rules with expiry, min spend, per-customer limit): plain $0.08 / 20 sec, /tdd $0.32 / 90 sec. Both passed all 10 hidden tests * plan (deliberately vague coupon request): plain $0.08 / 29 sec, /grill-me $0.23 / 83 sec. 9 decisions listed vs 20 questions So on this small project the skills didn’t make the code more correct, and they took longer and cost more. /tdd was about 4x the cost for the same result. /diagnosing-bugs did give a slightly cleaner fix. Plain Claude worked around the bug in one function, the skill fixed the function that was actually changing the cart. But it was a 19-line file, and the skill itself said it skipped one of its steps because the bug was easy. /grill-me was the most useful. 20 numbered questions over three rounds, each with a recommended answer, no code until you confirm. It went deeper than plain Claude on things like whether minimum spend applies before or after the discount. Plain Claude still caught a lot of it though, its one reply listed 9 decisions and flagged the same double-discount bug. The warning: when every recommendation was accepted, a small coupon feature grew into SQLite storage, 15-minute checkout holds and a reservation system. In another run it recommended simple in-memory storage instead. So you have to actually answer its questions. Install cost is small, about 400 extra tokens at startup with all 27 in the project. Not tested: /improve-codebase-architecture, /to-spec, /to-tickets, /implement, the code-review skill, or anything on a big codebase, which is where the project says they matter most. [https://aiparabellum.com/matt-pocock-skills-claude-code-install-test/](https://aiparabellum.com/matt-pocock-skills-claude-code-install-test/)
## Media
1. image: https://social-archiver-api.social-archive.org/media/archives/gergan/olZND9haSb/00-image.jpeg