Yc Apply

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 118e61cf1c61 · 16 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publisherpedronauck GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderpedronauck/skills/skills/mine/yc-applyThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceNot declaredAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict118e61cf1c61A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 31 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Prepare, review, and package Y Combinator application answers and founder-video notes using the live form and verified founder facts. Use for a YC application, requested interview practice, or reapplication; not general…

---
name: yc-apply
description: Prepare, review, and package Y Combinator application answers and founder-video notes using the live form and verified founder facts. Use for a YC application, requested interview practice, or reapplication; not general fundraising or unrelated decks.
disable-model-invocation: true
---

# YC Apply

Complete the requested application task using the founder's facts and the current YC form. Work can start with one answer, a review, video notes, a submission pack, or reapplication; it need not traverse every coaching phase.

## Workspace and context

Keep founder data in the separate workspace they chose. Resolve `--workspace`/`--resume`, `YC_APPLY_WORKSPACE`, or an existing `00_meta.md`; ask only when no unambiguous location is known. `<skill-dir>` is this skill's directory, not the workspace. Create the authorized workspace with `scripts/bootstrap-workspace.sh`; preserve existing files and resume instead of overwriting them.

Use the existing layout: `00_meta.md`, `01_form-spec.md`, founder/narrative notes, optional `04_research/`, `05_drafts/`, `06_video/`, `06_gate.md`, optional `07_interview/`, `08_final/`, and milestone journal. These are artifact locations, not prerequisites for every task. Legacy `--phase` numbers may select the corresponding task; they no longer impose a sequential gate.

Capture/verify the live form in `01_form-spec.md` for a full application or submission check. Bundled batch forms are dated snapshots, not current authority. A single-answer edit can use the supplied field and limit without a full form-research pass.

## Choose the work

- **Draft or improve answers:** reuse known facts, batch missing factual questions, and ask a focused follow-up for a consequential ambiguity. Start from a concrete draft when the founder requested drafting. Use matching `references/partner-signals.md`, `references/seven-pitch-questions.md`, and `references/accepted-examples.md` sections when helpful; no compulsory seven-question interview, score threshold, Email Test, or accepted-example quota.
- **Research:** investigate unresolved claims that affect the answer. Use applicable `assets/research-*.md` outlines and bounded native explorers only when independent questions justify them. No five-slice prerequisite. Record evidence and uncertainty; a legitimately inapplicable regulatory slice may be `N/A` without an invented URL.
- **Review:** apply the relevant `references/anti-patterns.md` guidance. `scripts/buzzword-scan.sh` suggests clarity candidates; a technical word is not itself a defect. No journal entry is required for every intentional word. Preserve truthful meaning, exact field limits, and the founder's voice.
- **Founder video:** read `references/video-spec.md` and verify current application instructions. Preserve its time/participant/content requirements; use concise talking notes by default. An explicit request for a script is sufficient authorization to draft one; explain the natural-delivery tradeoff without requiring a magic confirmation phrase.
- **Interview:** use `references/interview-playbook.md` for requested practice. Mark the actual interview stage only after a confirmed invite; practice does not imply an invitation. Choose drills for weak answers, with optional timers; no personality performance or fixed rehearsal quota.
- **Reapplication/post-mortem:** use `references/reapplicant-playbook.md` for confirmed changes since the prior application. Do not auto-launch a rejection interview or scaffold another batch unless requested.

## Packaging and submission readiness

For a requested final pack, collect the accepted answers in `08_final/SUBMIT.md` in current form order. Record the founder's review and the material readiness checks in `06_gate.md`:

```text
form_current: pass
required_fields_complete: pass
claims_verified: pass
video_conforms: pass
founder_reviewed: pass
```

Use `video_conforms: not_required` only when the current form truly requires no video. A missing/failed item remains an explicit gap; optional research, coaching, and scoring cannot block otherwise ready answers. `scripts/phase-status.sh <workspace> --submission` checks the record and artifacts; it cannot independently prove the truth of a founder claim or the live form's requirements.

The pack is for founder review/use. Actual submission, emails to others, uploads, or disclosure of transcripts require explicit authorization. Preserve existing authorization without asking twice. Never invent metrics, customers, evidence, founder consent, or successful submission. Inspect a selected coding transcript for private data and current upload limits before staging it; do not explore unrelated conversation history.

Use `scripts/journal-append.sh` for meaningful decisions/handoffs, not every answer or phase. `scripts/phase-status.sh <workspace>` is an advisory progress inventory, not an instruction to restart completed work. An optional `--strict` buzzword scan may support a specifically requested lexical audit; it is never proof of application quality.

Excerpt, first 5,067 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

git clone https://github.com/pedronauck/skills
git -C skills checkout 118e61cf1c61

Works in

1. 2026-10-16
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 118e61cf1c61

Questions about Yc Apply

• github.com/pedronauck/skills/tree/main/skills/mine/yc-apply — the audited source at commit 118e61cf1c61 and every finding aboveObserved · 16 Oct 2026

Spotted something wrong? Report a correction · Methodology