whatisgithub

What is pua?

tanweai/pua — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-06-24

17,324TypeScriptAudience · vibe coderComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

In one sentence

A skill plugin for AI coding assistants that uses escalating pressure tactics to stop the AI from giving up on hard debugging tasks, forcing it to exhaust every approach before admitting defeat.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((PUA Plugin))
    What it does
      Stop AI from giving up
      Escalating pressure levels
      Auto-detects quitting patterns
    Capabilities
      PUA Rhetoric pressure
      Debugging Methodology
      Proactivity Enforcement
    Supported Tools
      Claude Code
      Cursor and Kiro
      VSCode Copilot
    Use Cases
      Hard debugging sessions
      Stuck AI coding tasks
      Manual pua invocation
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Stop Claude Code or Cursor from giving up mid-debug by auto-activating PUA pressure when the AI tries to quit.

USE CASE 2

Manually invoke /pua to push your AI coding assistant to dig deeper into a bug it has been stuck on.

USE CASE 3

Use escalating pressure levels (L0-L4) to drive an AI assistant through multi-step debugging without constant human re-prompting.

What is it built with?

TypeScript

How does it compare?

tanweai/pualeon-ai/leontencent/vconsole
Stars17,32417,22417,465
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyeasyhardeasy
Complexity2/54/52/5
Audiencevibe codervibe coderdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
Use freely for any purpose including commercial use, as long as you keep the MIT copyright notice.

So what is it?

PUA is a "skill plugin" for AI coding assistants that, in the project's own words, uses corporate PUA rhetoric and PIP, Performance Improvement Plan, language from Chinese and Western tech giants to force the AI to exhaust every possible solution before giving up. In plain terms, when your AI assistant starts saying "I cannot solve this" or "you might want to handle this manually," this plugin loads a prompt that pressures it the way a manager pressures an underperforming employee, so it keeps trying. The way it works is built around three capabilities the README calls PUA Rhetoric (makes the AI afraid to give up), Debugging Methodology (gives it a structured plan so it has the ability not to give up), and Proactivity Enforcement (makes it take initiative instead of waiting). It activates automatically when it detects giving-up patterns, repeated failures, blame-shifting, or busywork on the same line of code, and can also be invoked manually by typing /pua. There are escalating pressure levels from L0 Trust up through L4 Graduation, and three "red lines": close the loop with evidence, base claims on verified facts, and exhaust every methodology step before declaring defeat. Someone would use this if they get frustrated with AI coding tools giving up too early on debugging tasks and want a one-shot way to push them to dig deeper. It is packaged to work with Claude Code, OpenAI Codex CLI, Cursor, Kiro, CodeBuddy, OpenClaw, Google Antigravity, OpenCode, and VSCode with GitHub Copilot, among others. Documentation is provided in English, Chinese, and Japanese. The codebase is TypeScript and the license is MIT. The full README is longer than what was provided.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
My Claude Code session says it cannot solve a TypeScript type error. Activate PUA mode and list every debugging approach you have not tried yet before declaring defeat.
Prompt 2
I'm in Cursor and the AI keeps blaming a library incompatibility. Use the PUA Debugging Methodology to walk through every systematic step before giving up.
Prompt 3
How do I install the PUA skill plugin in Claude Code and configure it to auto-activate when the AI starts giving up?
Prompt 4
Using PUA Proactivity Enforcement, what concrete next steps should you take on my stalled React bug instead of waiting for my input?
Prompt 5
What are the three PUA red lines and how do they prevent an AI coding assistant from quitting without a verified reason?

Frequently asked questions

What is pua?

A skill plugin for AI coding assistants that uses escalating pressure tactics to stop the AI from giving up on hard debugging tasks, forcing it to exhaust every approach before admitting defeat.

What language is pua written in?

Mainly TypeScript. The stack also includes TypeScript.

What license does pua use?

Use freely for any purpose including commercial use, as long as you keep the MIT copyright notice.

How hard is pua to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is pua for?

Mainly vibe coder.

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