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Most people think this project is a joke. That's the biggest misconception. It genuinely doubles your Codex / Claude Code productivity and output.

An AI Coding Agent skill plugin that uses corporate PUA rhetoric (Chinese version) / PIP — Performance Improvement Plan (English version) from Chinese & Western tech giants to force AI to exhaust every possible solution before giving up. Supports Claude Code, OpenAI Codex CLI, Cursor, Kiro, CodeBuddy, OpenClaw, Google Antigravity, OpenCode, and VSCode (GitHub Copilot). Three capabilities:

1. PUA Rhetoric — Makes AI afraid to give up
2. Debugging Methodology — Gives AI the ability not to give up
3. Proactivity Enforcement — Makes AI take initiative instead of waiting passively

https://openpua.ai · 📖 Beginner Guide

A real debugging scenario. The agent-kms MCP server failed to load. The AI kept spinning on the same approach (changing protocol format, guessing version numbers) multiple times until the user manually triggered /pua.

L3 Triggered → 7-Point Checklist Enforced:

Root Cause Located → Traced from Logs to Registration Mechanism:

Retrospective → PUA's Actual Impact:

Key Turning Point: The PUA skill forced the AI to stop spinning on the same approach (changing protocol format, guessing version numbers) and instead execute the 7-point checklist. Read error messages word by word → Found Claude Code's own MCP log directory → Discovered that claude mcp registration mechanism differs from manual .claude.json editing → Root cause resolved.

The skill activates automatically when any of these occur:

Failure & giving up:

• Task has failed 2+ times consecutively
• About to say "I cannot" / "I'm unable to solve"
• Says "This is out of scope" / "Needs manual handling"

Blame-shifting & excuses:

• Pushes the problem to user: "Please check..." / "I suggest manually..." / "You might need to..."
• Blames environment without verifying: "Probably a permissions issue" / "Probably a network issue"
• Any excuse to stop trying

Passive & busywork:

• Repeatedly fine-tunes the same code/parameters without producing new information
• Fixes surface issue and stops, doesn't check related issues
• Skips verification, claims "done"
• Gives advice instead of code/commands
• Encounters auth/network/permission errors and gives up without trying alternatives
• Waits for user instructions instead of proactively investigating

User frustration phrases (triggers in multiple languages):

• "why does this still not work" / "try harder" / "try again"
• "you keep failing" / "stop giving up" / "figure it out"

Scope: Debugging, implementation, config, deployment, ops, API integration, data processing — all task types.

Does NOT trigger: First-attempt failures, known fix already executing.

Type /pua in the conversation to manually activate.

Not rules — red lines. Cross one and your performance review is already written.

Fix one bug → check for the pattern. One problem in, one category out. If you fix A without checking B, you'll write two postmortems.

9 real bug scenarios, 18 controlled experiments (Claude Opus 4.6, with vs without skill)

Key Finding: In the config review scenario, without_skill missed Redis misconfiguration and CORS wildcard security risks. With_skill's "proactive initiative checklist" drove security review beyond surface-level fixes.

PUA Skill provides fully translated versions — each language has independent, culturally adapted skill files.

🇺🇸 English "PIP Edition": "This is a difficult conversation. When we leveled you at Staff, I went to bat for you in calibration. The expectation was that you'd operate at that level from day one. That hasn't happened." — The English version uses PIP (Performance Improvement Plan) rhetoric from Western big-tech. Every sentence is a real phrase from actual PIP conversations. Chinese version uses Alibaba 361, ByteDance, Huawei wolf culture. English version uses Amazon Leadership Principles, Google perf calibration, Meta PSC, Netflix Keeper Test, Stripe Craft. Same repo, same engine, two cultural faces.

Choose the file with the corresponding language suffix when installing. See platform-specific instructions below.

Vercel Skills CLI is a general installation method for skills and is not tied to a specific AI tool. This English README installs the English skill:

npx skills add tanweai/pua --skill pua-en

If the current session does not pick up the new skill immediately, restart your AI tool.

claude plugin marketplace add tanweai/pua claude plugin install pua@pua-skills

To update:

# Refresh marketplace cache first, then update (skipping the first step may install an old cached version) claude plugin marketplace update claude plugin update pua@pua-skills

Developer install (source):

git clone https://github.com/tanweai/pua ~/.claude/plugins/pua

Then manually register in ~/.claude/plugins/installed_plugins.json:

{ "version": 2, "plugins": { "pua@pua-skills": [ { "scope": "user", "installPath": "/Users/<you>/.claude/plugins/pua", "version": "2.9.0" } ] } }

Windows: use C:/Users/<you>/.claude/plugins/pua as installPath.

Restart Claude Code. To update: git pull inside ~/.claude/plugins/pua.

Optional: bare command alias (requires plugin installed above — adds /pua without prefix):

curl -o ~/.claude/commands/pua.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/commands/pua.md

Adds a bare /pua alias on top of the plugin. Sub-commands route through the installed plugin's skills — the plugin must be installed first for anything beyond on/off to work:

Codex CLI uses the same Agent Skills open standard (SKILL.md). The Codex version uses a condensed description to fit Codex's length limits:

Recommended: One-command install (git clone + symlink, supports git pull updates)

Ask Codex to run:

Fetch and follow instructions from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/.codex/INSTALL.md 

Manual install:

mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills/pua curl -o ~/.codex/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/codex/pua/SKILL.md mkdir -p ~/.codex/prompts curl -o ~/.codex/prompts/pua.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/commands/pua.md

Trigger methods:

Project-level install (current project only):

mkdir -p .agents/skills/pua curl -o .agents/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/codex/pua/SKILL.md mkdir -p .agents/prompts curl -o .agents/prompts/pua.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/commands/pua.md

Cursor uses .mdc rule files (Markdown + YAML frontmatter). The PUA rule triggers automatically via AI semantic matching (Agent Discretion mode):

# Project-level install (recommended) mkdir -p .cursor/rules curl -o .cursor/rules/pua.mdc \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/cursor/rules/pua.mdc

Kiro supports two loading methods: Steering (auto semantic trigger) and Agent Skills (SKILL.md compatible).

Option 1: Steering file (recommended)

mkdir -p .kiro/steering curl -o .kiro/steering/pua.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/kiro/steering/pua.md

Option 2: Agent Skills (same format as Claude Code)

mkdir -p .kiro/skills/pua curl -o .kiro/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/skills/pua/SKILL.md

CodeBuddy uses the same AgentSkills open standard (SKILL.md). Plugin and skill formats are fully compatible:

# Option 1: Install via marketplace codebuddy plugin marketplace add tanweai/pua codebuddy plugin install pua@pua-skills # Option 2: Manual install (global) mkdir -p ~/.codebuddy/skills/pua curl -o ~/.codebuddy/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/codebuddy/pua/SKILL.md

Project-level install (current project only):

mkdir -p .codebuddy/skills/pua curl -o .codebuddy/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/codebuddy/pua/SKILL.md

OpenClaw uses the same AgentSkills open standard (SKILL.md). Skills work across Claude Code, Codex CLI, and OpenClaw with zero modifications:

# Install via ClawHub clawhub install pua # Or manual install mkdir -p ~/.openclaw/skills/pua curl -o ~/.openclaw/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/skills/pua/SKILL.md

Project-level install (current project only):

mkdir -p skills/pua curl -o skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/skills/pua/SKILL.md

Antigravity uses the same AgentSkills open standard (SKILL.md). Skills work across Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenClaw, and Antigravity with zero modifications:

# Global install (all projects) mkdir -p ~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/pua curl -o ~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/skills/pua/SKILL.md

Project-level install (current project only):

mkdir -p .agent/skills/pua curl -o .agent/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/skills/pua/SKILL.md

OpenCode uses the same AgentSkills open standard (SKILL.md). Zero modifications needed:

# Global install (all projects) mkdir -p ~/.config/opencode/skills/pua curl -o ~/.config/opencode/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/skills/pua/SKILL.md

Project-level install (current project only):

mkdir -p .opencode/skills/pua curl -o .opencode/skills/pua/SKILL.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/skills/pua/SKILL.md

VSCode Copilot uses instruction files under the .github/ directory. Three file types for different use cases:

Global instructions (auto-active):

mkdir -p .github cp vscode/copilot-instructions-en.md .github/copilot-instructions.md

Path-level instructions (auto-active, supports glob filtering):

mkdir -p .github/instructions cp vscode/instructions/pua-en.instructions.md .github/instructions/

Manual trigger command (type /pua in Copilot Chat):

mkdir -p .github/prompts cp vscode/prompts/pua-en.prompt.md .github/prompts/

Required settings: Method 1 — open VSCode Settings (Ctrl+,), search useInstructionFiles, enable github.copilot.chat.codeGeneration.useInstructionFiles. Method 2 — search includeApplyingInstructions, enable chat.includeApplyingInstructions. Method 3 requires no settings.

Experimental: Agent Team requires the latest Claude Code version with CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1.

# 1. Enable Agent Team export CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1 # Or add to ~/.claude/settings.json: # { "env": { "CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS": "1" } } # 2. Ensure PUA Skill is installed

Approach 1: Leader with built-in PUA (Recommended)

Add to your project's CLAUDE.md:

# Agent Team PUA Config All teammates must load the pua skill before starting work. Teammates report to Leader in [PUA-REPORT] format after 2+ failures. Leader manages global pressure levels and cross-teammate failure transfer.

Approach 2: Standalone PUA Enforcer watchdog (for 5+ teammates)

mkdir -p .claude/agents curl -o .claude/agents/pua-enforcer.md \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanweai/pua/main/agents/pua-enforcer-en.md

Spawn pua-enforcer as an independent watchdog in your Agent Team.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Leader (Opus) │ │ Global failure count · PUA level · Race │ └────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬───┘ │ │ │ │ ┌────▼───┐ ┌───▼────┐ ┌───▼────┐ ┌───▼────────┐ │ Team-A │ │ Team-B │ │ Team-C │ │ Enforcer │ │Self-PUA│ │Self-PUA│ │Self-PUA│ │ Watchdog │ │Report ↑│ │Report ↑│ │Report ↑│ │ Intervene │ └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────────┘ 

Note: Sub-modes (p7/p9/p10/pro/yes/pua-loop) are Claude Code only — other platforms install the core skill only.

/pua:pua → Core engine — red lines + flavor + pressure + methodology router (v3) /pua:p7 → P7 Senior Engineer — solution-driven execution /pua:p9 → P9 Tech Lead — Task Prompt management, agent teams /pua:p10 → P10 CTO — strategic direction /pua:pro → Self-evolution + KPI + rank system + survey /pua:yes → ENFP encouragement mode (same rules, opposite vibes) /pua:pua-loop → Auto-iteration (PUA pressure × iterative loop; signals: <loop-abort>, <loop-pause>) /pua:pua-en → English PIP Edition /pua:pua-ja → Japanese Edition Hooks (v3, Claude Code only): SessionStart → additionalContext injection (flavor + methodology + router) PostToolUse → Bash failure detection → L1-L4 pressure + methodology switch UserPromptSubmit → Frustration phrase interception → PUA enforcement PreCompact → State preservation (pressure level + failure count) Stop → Feedback collection + PUA Loop continuation 

Note: Sub-modes (p7/p9/p10/pro/yes/pua-loop) are Claude Code only.

Each command has two equivalent forms: standalone (/pua:on) or via the main command (/pua:pua on). Both work identically.

High-Agency is PUA's next-generation evolution — same corporate pressure, same culture, but with a self-sustaining inner drive engine.

PUA v1 = pure external pressure (turbocharger — needs fuel, stalls across sessions) High-Agency = external pressure + inner drive (nuclear reactor — self-sustaining chain reaction)

Based on research into high-agency individuals:

1. Irreconcilable inner tension — eternal gap between "how it should be" and "how it is" drives continuous improvement
2. Micro-win anchors — [WIN] markers celebrate each step forward, building momentum
3. Internalized standards — Quality Compass: you are your own first reviewer, not because someone checks, but because your standards won't allow sloppiness
4. Action-oriented identity — P8 identity anchor: every action reflects who you are, not just what you were told to do
5. Self-repair mechanism — Recovery Protocol: self-diagnose when stuck before triggering external pressure

High-Agency features are built into the current pua skill. No separate install needed.

v3 = v2 + intelligent methodology routing + code-level behavioral detection

PUA v2 used pressure rhetoric to motivate. v3 goes further: it automatically selects the best problem-solving methodology for each task type, and when that methodology fails, it switches to a different one.

Task arrives → Analyze type → Auto-select best methodology ↓ Debug? → 🔴 Huawei (RCA root cause + Blue Army) Build? → ⬛ Musk (The Algorithm: question→delete→simplify) Research? → ⚫ Baidu (search everything first) Architecture? → 🔶 Amazon (Working Backwards) Performance? → 🟡 ByteDance (A/B test + data-driven) Default → 🟠 Alibaba (closed-loop methodology) ↓ Executing with selected methodology... ↓ 2 consecutive failures? → L1: switch approach 3 failures? → L2: SUGGEST switching methodology 5+ failures? → L4: FORCE switch to next methodology ↓ Methodology Switch Chains (never repeat a failed one): Spinning → ⬛ Musk → 🟣 Pinduoduo → 🔴 Huawei Giving up → 🟤 Netflix → 🔴 Huawei → ⬛ Musk Poor quality → ⬜ Jobs → 🟧 Xiaomi → 🟤 Netflix Not searching → ⚫ Baidu → 🔶 Amazon → 🟡 ByteDance 

v3 hook features require Claude Code. Other platforms use the core skill without hooks.

• /pua:p9 — P9 Tech Lead mode for managing agent teams
• /pua:pro — Self-evolution tracking, KPI reports, rank system
• superpowers:systematic-debugging — PUA adds motivation layer, systematic-debugging provides methodology
• superpowers:verification-before-completion — Prevents false "fixed" claims

Upload your Claude Code / Codex CLI conversation logs (.jsonl) to help us improve PUA Skill's effectiveness.

Upload here ->

Uploaded files are used for Benchmark testing and Ablation Study analysis to quantify how different PUA strategies affect AI debugging behavior.

Get your .jsonl files:

# Claude Code ls ~/.claude/projects/*/sessions/*.jsonl # Codex CLI ls ~/.codex/sessions/*.jsonl

MIT

By TanWei Security Lab — making AI try harder, one PUA at a time.