#!/usr/bin/env agent

Competitive Analysis Skill

Research competitors in a market segment and generate a SWOT analysis identifying strategic gaps.

Input

You need these parameters (provided in the task or ask the user):

market_segment: Which market are you analyzing? (e.g., “developer tools for agent builders”, “internal agent platforms for enterprises”, “agentic SaaS infrastructure”)
our_product: Brief description of your product/offering
our_strengths: What do we do well? (optional - will be discovered if not provided)

Process

Phase 1: Identify Competitors

Search for direct competitors:
- Use web_search with queries like:
  - “[market_segment] companies”
  - “[market_segment] tools”
  - “[market_segment] platforms”
  - “best [key capability] for [target user]”
Look for:
- Direct competitors (same problem, similar solution)
- Adjacent competitors (same problem, different approach)
- Indirect competitors (different problem, overlapping user base)
Prioritize 5-8 most relevant competitors based on:
- Market presence (funding, users, traffic)
- Product maturity
- Target audience overlap

Phase 2: Gather Intelligence

For each competitor, collect:

Company basics (from website/about page):
- Founded date, team size, funding
- Mission/positioning statement
- Target customers
Product details (from docs/homepage):
- Core features
- Pricing model
- Technology stack (if public)
- Integration ecosystem
Market position (from blog/press/social):
- Recent announcements
- Customer testimonials/case studies
- Growth signals (hiring, funding, partnerships)
Public perception (search for reviews/discussions):
- User complaints/pain points
- Praise/strong points
- Common use cases

Use read_webpages for homepage, docs, about pages. Use web_search for “[competitor] review”, “[competitor] vs”, “[competitor] problems”.

Phase 3: SWOT Analysis

For EACH competitor, synthesize:

Strengths: What do they do well?

Product capabilities
Market position
Resources/momentum

Weaknesses: Where do they fall short?

Feature gaps
User complaints
Limitations

Opportunities (for them): What could they exploit?

Market trends they’re positioned for
Unmet needs they could address

Threats (to them): What could hurt them?

New entrants
Technology shifts
Customer churn risks

Phase 4: Identify Strategic Gaps

Across all competitors, find:

Underserved segments: User types or use cases nobody addresses well
Feature gaps: Capabilities missing from all solutions
Positioning gaps: Ways to frame the problem that nobody uses
Business model gaps: Pricing/packaging strategies unexplored
Distribution gaps: Channels or communities not being reached

Phase 5: Actionable Insights

Based on gaps identified, recommend:

Differentiation opportunities: How we can be meaningfully different
Partnership opportunities: Where collaboration beats competition
Validation priorities: What to test with customers first
Positioning strategy: How to communicate our unique value

Output Format

## Competitive Analysis: [Market Segment]

**Analysis Date**: YYYY-MM-DD
**Our Product**: [brief description]

---

## Competitor Landscape

### [Competitor 1 Name]
- **URL**: https://...
- **Positioning**: [one-liner from their site]
- **Strengths**: 
  - [specific strength with evidence]
  - [specific strength with evidence]
- **Weaknesses**:
  - [specific weakness with evidence]
  - [specific weakness with evidence]
- **Target Customer**: [who they serve]
- **Pricing**: [model/range]

### [Competitor 2 Name]
[... same format ...]

---

## Strategic Gaps Analysis

### 1. Underserved Segments
- **Gap**: [specific user type or use case]
  - **Evidence**: [why current solutions fail here]
  - **Opportunity Size**: [rough estimate based on search volume/discussions]

### 2. Feature Gaps
- **Missing Capability**: [what nobody offers]
  - **User Need**: [evidence of demand]
  - **Why It's Missing**: [technical/business reason competitors don't have it]

### 3. Positioning Gaps
- **Alternative Frame**: [different way to think about the problem]
  - **Current Framing**: [how competitors position]
  - **Opportunity**: [why new frame could resonate]

### 4. Business Model Gaps
- **Unexplored Model**: [pricing/packaging approach]
  - **Current Models**: [what competitors do]
  - **Why It Could Work**: [market evidence]

### 5. Distribution Gaps
- **Untapped Channel**: [community/platform/strategy]
  - **Current Channels**: [where competitors focus]
  - **Why It's Open**: [reason for opportunity]

---

## Recommendations

### Primary Differentiation
[The #1 way we should position ourselves as different, based on gaps]

### Validation Priorities
1. [Specific thing to test with customers]
2. [Specific thing to test with customers]
3. [Specific thing to test with customers]

### Partnership Opportunities
- [Potential collaborator and why]

### Positioning Statement (Draft)
"For [target user] who [specific problem], [our product] is a [category] that [unique capability]. Unlike [competitors], we [key differentiator]."

---

## Research Quality Notes
- Competitors analyzed: X
- Webpages reviewed: Y
- Search queries run: Z
- Confidence level: [High/Medium/Low] - [brief reasoning]

Quality Checklist

Before outputting, verify:

Each competitor has real URLs and evidence (not placeholder text)
Strengths/weaknesses cite specific features or user feedback
Gaps are SPECIFIC (not generic like “better UX”)
Recommendations are ACTIONABLE (not vague)
Positioning statement passes the “so what?” test
Confidence level honestly reflects data quality

Tips

Prioritize RECENT information (last 6 months)
Look for what users SAY not just what companies CLAIM
Small competitors can reveal unmet needs big players ignore
Gaps aren’t always missing features - sometimes it’s messaging/education
The best differentiation is often NOT “we have feature X” but “we understand context Y”

Example Usage

Market Segment: Developer tools for building and running agents
Our Product: agentd - a runtime container for agents with markdown specs, unix-native CLI, and built-in guardrails