A skill from the Loadout
A structured worksheet for the epic on your desk.
What it does
The Spotter reviews a product epic across nine product-leadership areas — user and problem, competitive landscape, strategic differentiation, solution approach, holistic impact, packaging and pricing, launch readiness, post-launch ownership, and trust, governance, and auditability. It meets you wherever the epic is: blank page, rough draft, or nearly done.
The output is an interactive worksheet. Each area shows the relevant excerpt from your epic, a pip verdict, and typed critique notes. Accept the ones you have addressed. Skip the ones you are setting aside. When every area is closed, the export unlocks. Every flag is constructive — never "you missed this," always "you could strengthen this by…"
Two modes
Pick the mode that matches where you are. The nine areas stay the same. What the Spotter gives back changes with the mode.
Before stakeholders see it
You have a complete epic and need a final pass before sending it for review. The Spotter walks all nine areas, calls verdicts with the powerlifting pip system, and produces an interactive worksheet to work through.
You get back
A structured worksheet — critique notes per area, an accept and skip loop, an export that unlocks when every area is closed.
Starting from blank
You have a new initiative and a blank page. The Spotter asks targeted questions for each area and helps you draft an epic that's already area-aware from the first version.
You get back
A working first draft, structured against all nine areas.
Tightening an epic before sending it for review. Catching gaps before someone senior catches them.
Calibrating the team's writing without sitting in every working doc. A consistent bar across the org.
Building product instincts without a coach. Learning the questions a seasoned PM would ask.
Reading an epic critically before standup. Spotting what is missing before kickoff.
How the verdict works
Borrowed from powerlifting. After each lift, three judges flash white for a good lift, red for no-lift. The Spotter does the same for each of the nine areas — three pip signals per area, one verdict. Good lift means the area is well-addressed. No-lift means the worksheet keeps that area open until you work through it and close it yourself.
The area is well-addressed. Move on.
The area needs work. The worksheet keeps it open until you close it.
See it in action
In Review mode, the Spotter evaluates your epic across all nine areas and builds a live worksheet artifact. Each area shows the relevant excerpt, a three-pip verdict, and typed critique notes. Work through it at your own pace — accept notes you have addressed, skip ones you are setting aside, and close each area when you are done. Export unlocks when the last area closes.
How to use it
The Spotter is part of the Loadout MCP server. One connection gives you every skill in the kit. Tested on Claude.
https://mcp.missionbuilt.io/sse ✓ Verified on Claude
Or download the standalone
Prefer to run it offline, or pin a version? Download the skill folder and drop it into any AI coding tool's skills folder. The hosted server stays the recommended path — always current. The download is a pinned snapshot.
Download spotter.zipAfter you connect
Paste your epic into the conversation, then use either phrase. The skill triggers automatically.
"run the spotter on this epic" "build me an epic for [initiative]" Questions
No. Your content is processed in memory and discarded after the worksheet is built. Nothing is written to a database or logged.
Yes. The server uses Google OAuth. You authenticate once when you connect — no separate account creation required.
Yes. The Loadout is a standard MCP server and works with any MCP-compatible agent. It has been tested and validated in Claude.
Also in the kit
The Spotter ships under MIT. Use it commercially, adapt it for your team,
embed it in your product. Source for both the skill and the MCP server lives in
github.com/missionbuilt/loadout.
Attribution to the writers and skills whose thinking informed it is in
spotter/ATTRIBUTION.md.
Customize for your team by adding a CLAUDE.md at your project
root with your tier names, competitor set, and product taxonomy. The skill
stays generic. Your context stays local.
A spotter lifts the lifter. Not the bar.