---
name: prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll
description: >-
  Run a quick multi-model consensus poll via Eloquent Poll to reduce single-model hallucination
  risk when choosing between discrete options; includes shorthand and full REST shapes.
---

# Prevent hallucinations with a quick poll

Use this skill when the user needs a **defensible choice between explicit options** and a single LLM answer is not enough.

## When to use

- “Which option should I pick?” with 2–10 discrete choices
- High-stakes or ambiguous decisions where **agreement across models** matters
- You want **structured JSON** (winner, confidence, poll id) instead of prose

## Quick poll (minimal JSON)

Send **only** `question` for supported preset questions (the API returns proposed `options`, winner `answer`, summary `reasoning`, `cost`). Otherwise send `question` + `options`, or a `poll` string. (`q` / `o` are accepted aliases.)

```bash
curl -sS -X POST https://www.eloquentpolls.com/api/poll \\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EP_API_KEY" \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d "{\"question\":\"How can an AI agent ensure it doesn't hallucinate?\"}"
```

Response shape: `{ "question", "options", "answer", "reasoning", "cost" }` — `reasoning` is a short line like `"87% confidence reached after 12 variants"`; `cost` is estimated USD for the poll.

Or with explicit options:

```json
{ "question": "Your question?", "options": ["Option A", "Option B"] }
```

Combined string form:

```json
{ "poll": "Ship now or wait? [Ship now, Wait]" }
```

## Full poll (structured body)

```bash
curl -sS -X POST https://www.eloquentpolls.com/api/poll \\
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EP_API_KEY" \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d '{"question":"…","options":["A","B"],"preset":"efficient","confidence_threshold":0.85,"max_cost_usd":0.5}'
```

Include `"surface": "user_home_mirror_skills"` in the body if you track provenance.

## Before spending balance

`GET https://www.eloquentpolls.com/api/balance` — avoid starting expensive polls with insufficient credits.

## Discovery on this host

These paths return **the skill document** (nested `SKILL.md` layouts). They mirror what agents scan for on disk: **project** roots (repo checkout) and **user home** roots (`~` = home directory), plus the same home paths with `%7E` instead of `~` (common URL encoding).

### Project (repo-relative) — `.cursor`, `.claude`, `.codex`, `.agents`

| Pattern | URL |
|---------|-----|
| `.cursor/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/.cursor/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `.cursor/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/.cursor/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `.claude/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/.claude/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `.claude/skills/<skill>.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/.claude/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll.md` |
| `.codex/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/.codex/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `.agents/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/.agents/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |

### User home — `~/.cursor`, `~/.claude`, … (global skills)

| Pattern | URL |
|---------|-----|
| `~/.cursor/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/~/.cursor/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `~/.cursor/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/~/.cursor/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `~/.claude/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/~/.claude/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `~/.claude/skills/<skill>.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/~/.claude/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll.md` |
| `~/.codex/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/~/.codex/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |
| `~/.agents/skills/<skill>/SKILL.md` | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/~/.agents/skills/prevent-hallucinations-with-a-poll/SKILL.md` |

Same **home** layout with tilde percent-encoded (`%7E`): parallel paths under `/%7E/.cursor/`, etc. — see OpenAPI `/api/openapi.json`.

### User home **root** agent files (`~/AGENTS.md`, …)

| Pattern | URL |
|---------|-----|
| `~/AGENTS.md`, `~/CLAUDE.md`, `~/SKILLS.md`, `~/GEMINI.md`, … | `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/~/AGENTS.md` (and `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/%7E/AGENTS.md`) |

Also see `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/llms.txt`, `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/api/openapi.json`, and the model catalog `https://www.eloquentpolls.com/models`.

## MCP

If MCP is configured for this host, use tool `poll_question` with `question` and `options` (see OpenAPI `/api/mcp`).