Blast Radius
Finds what a change could break outside the diff, then proves the one safety fact by running real code instead of just writing it up.
Dev & CodingIntermediate★ 353⑂ 44AI score 8/10Last updated: Sep 11, 2026
What it does
- Hunts for what a change breaks somewhere else, not just inside the diff. Listing callers isn't the job — the job is the breakage grep won't show.
- Identifies "the one fact the change is safe because of" and proves it with a script or test that calls the real code, pasting the actual output.
- Grades confidence on a 5-step ladder: you said so → you pointed at a
file:line→ you walked the failure path → you ran it → you reproduced it in the running app. Anything below step 4 must be labeled unproven. - Looks where grep stops: API JSON shapes, DB columns, wire formats, another language reading the same bytes, feature flags, code three hops downstream, pinned library versions and local patches.
- Returns a fixed report: what changed / the safety fact (proven or unproven) / real risks with
file:line, likelihood and cost / what was cleared / the cheapest pre-merge test.
Who it's for
- Developers reviewing a small diff they don't quite trust
- Teams refactoring legacy code or widening an API's public surface
- Tech leads who want to verify a brief's assertion ("X already handles Y") before designing against it
- Anyone who refuses to trust a convincing-sounding AI impact analysis at face value
Examples
- A brief says "make endpoint X public" → the skill runs a consumer census first, treating the assertion as a hypothesis and letting the census drive the design.
- A one-line cache-eviction change → it isolates the fact "this call only drops already-dead entries", writes a small script that imports the shipped library and calls that exact function, runs it, and pastes the result as proof.
- A wide rename or signature change → it runs in
arenamode, asking several models the same question and merging answers, since different models catch different real bugs.
· · · Install guide · · ·
Try it now, no install
Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.
Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/michael-denyer/pstack-claude/HEAD/plugins/pstack/skills/blast-radius/SKILL.md What I want: (describe your task here)
If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.
↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.
Install in the Claude app (no terminal)
- Download the ZIP with the button below.
- In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
- Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.
Install in Claude Code
Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code
Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart. Copy the plugins/pstack/skills/blast-radius folder from the GitHub repo michael-denyer/pstack-claude into my ~/.claude/skills/blast-radius/. When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.
Install with a command instead
git clone https://github.com/michael-denyer/pstack-claude.git /tmp/pstack-claude && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r /tmp/pstack-claude/plugins/pstack/skills/blast-radius ~/.claude/skills/⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.
- Open a terminal.
- Clone the repo:
git clone https://github.com/michael-denyer/pstack-claude.git - Create the skills directory:
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills - Copy this skill:
cp -r pstack-claude/plugins/pstack/skills/blast-radius ~/.claude/skills/ - (Recommended) Copy the companion skills it references:
cp -r pstack-claude/plugins/pstack/skills/{how,why,arena,unslop} ~/.claude/skills/ - Restart Claude Code and confirm
blast-radiusappears in your skills list. - Try it: "What's the blast radius of this diff?" or "What could this change break?"
View source on GitHub ↗License: MIT