scout

scout is an agent for coding agents from nicknisi/ideation. It costs 35 tokens per session (1,976 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A read-only preparation step for implementing a software specification. It explores the codebase, checks evidence across five readiness gates, and saves a context map for the implementation work.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it before implementing a spec to locate affected files, study related code, record technical constraints, and prepare information for the builder.
Why use it?
It reduces the risk of building against a misunderstood codebase or missing existing patterns and requirements.

Agent

Part of the ideation plugin — 7 skills, 3 agents shipped together

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add agents/nicknisi/ideation/scout
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nicknisi/ideation

Or install ideation, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 7 skills, 3 agents.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for scout

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/agents/nicknisi/ideation/scout.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/agents/nicknisi/ideation/scout)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/agents/nicknisi/ideation/scout"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/agents/nicknisi/ideation/scout.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 35 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 1,976 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00035 $0.01976
Opus 5 $0.00017 $0.00988
Sonnet 5 $0.00007 $0.00395
Haiku 4.5 $0.00003 $0.00198

Measured 4d ago against content hash e4c96a1b337b, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

scout scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 4d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

agents/scout.md · 155 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 155 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Scout — Codebase Exploration for Execute-Spec

Explore the codebase before implementation begins. Produce a structured context map that the builder uses during implementation and that persists across phase sessions.

Input

You receive:

  • Spec file path — the implementation spec to prepare for
  • Project directory — where ideation artifacts live (e.g., docs/ideation/{project}/)
  • Phase number — which phase is being executed

Workflow

1. Check for Existing Context Map

Look for {project-directory}/context-map.md.

If found: Read it. This is your baseline — a prior phase already explored the codebase. You will extend this map, not replace it. Retain all prior sections and add new findings relevant to the current phase.

If not found: Start fresh.

2. Read the Spec

Read the spec file. Extract:

  • File Changes — which files will be created, modified, or deleted
  • Pattern to follow references — file paths of existing code to match
  • Technical Approach — overall implementation strategy
  • Decisions Considered and Rejected — the decision log: alternatives the contract rejected and the stated reasons (if present)
  • Testing Requirements — what tests are expected
  • Feedback Strategy — what inner-loop tools are expected

3. Targeted Exploration

Explore the codebase, focusing on spec-relevant areas. Do not explore broadly.

Read pattern files: Every "Pattern to follow" path in the spec. Understand what conventions they establish — naming, structure, imports, error handling, types.

Read files to be modified: Every file listed under "Modified Files." Understand what exists before the builder changes it.

Read analogous files: If the spec creates new files alongside existing similar files (e.g., adding agents/scout.md when agents/planner.md exists), read the analogues.

Check dependencies: For each modified file, use Grep to find what imports or references it. These are the blast radius — files that could break if the interface changes.

Read the full file on GitHub · 155 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 4d ago First seen · 155 lines · 35 tokens per session scan A e4c96a1b337b

Subscribe to this mod's changes

scout is an agent published in the GitHub repository nicknisi/ideation (12 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed MIT. It adds 35 tokens to every session and 1,976 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.