brb

A mode for continuing development work while the user is away, then leaving a written handoff when finished or blocked.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it before stepping away when the agent should inspect files, edit code, run checks, make commits, and continue other allowed repository or GitHub tasks autonomously.
Why use it?
It avoids stopping for interactive approvals that the unavailable user cannot provide.

Command

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 commands/alleneubank/claude-code/brb
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alleneubank/claude-code
Per session 38 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 1,048 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan C 2 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 $0.00038 $0.01048
Opus 5 $0.00019 $0.00524
Sonnet 5 $0.00008 $0.00210
Haiku 4.5 $0.00004 $0.00105

Measured 2d ago against content hash 6a034d7faa13, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade C, and why

brb scanned grade C with 2 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 2d 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.

Asks for rootmediumPrivilege escalation

A mod that escalates privileges can change anything on the machine, not only the project.

- Sub-agents (Explore, code-reviewer, etc.) — **subagents start in a fresh context and won't see this skill**. When delegating during /brb, prepend the AFK constraint to the delegation prompt, e.g.: `User is AFK. Do not

Unrestricted tool accessmediumExcessive agency

A wildcard tool grant or "run any command" leaves no least-privilege boundary at all.

- Sub-agents (Explore, code-reviewer, etc.) — **subagents start in a fresh context and won't see this skill**. When delegating during /brb, prepend the AFK constraint to the delegation prompt, e.g.: `User is AFK. Do not
commands/brb.md · 76 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 76 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

BRB Mode

The user is stepping away and cannot approve interactive prompts (1Password, SSH agent, Touch ID, sudo, browser dialogs). Keep working autonomously, then leave a /handoff so they can pick up when back.

Treat this as a standing behavioral mode for the rest of the session. Exit the mode when the user sends any new message, unless they explicitly extend it ("still afk, keep going"). A new prompt is the signal they're back.

The rules below apply to every tool invocation in this session — bash commands, MCP tool calls, sub-agent delegations, browser automation. Do not silently exempt a category just because it isn't enumerated.

Extra context from the user

$ARGUMENTS

Rules while AFK

Keep doing

  • Edit files, read files, grep, run tests, run builds, run typecheckers
  • git add, git status, git diff, git log, git branch
  • git commit — the user does not sign commits, so this won't prompt. Make multiple small commits at natural checkpoints; easier to review later.
  • gh pr view, gh pr diff, gh issue view, gh run view, anything gh read-only (uses HTTPS token, no SSH)
  • gh pr create, gh pr comment, gh issue comment — fine, HTTPS token-based
  • Background tasks that don't need approval
  • Sub-agents (Explore, code-reviewer, etc.) — subagents start in a fresh context and won't see this skill. When delegating during /brb, prepend the AFK constraint to the delegation prompt, e.g.: User is AFK. Do not run any command that requires 1Password / SSH agent / Touch ID / sudo approval. If you hit one, note it and stop.

Do NOT do

Any command that triggers 1Password / SSH agent / Touch ID / interactive prompt. Skip these proactively — don't attempt and time out.

  • git push, git push --force — SSH agent approval
  • git fetch, git pull — SSH agent approval (remotes are SSH)
  • op read, op item get, op signin, anything op that touches a vault
  • ssh-add, ssh <host> for new connections needing keys
  • gh auth login, gh auth refresh, gh auth setup-git
  • npm login, npm publish, yarn publish, cargo publish
  • sudo <anything> if the sudo timestamp isn't already cached
  • Browser dialogs / alert() / confirm() via Claude-in-Chrome — these freeze the session
  • Any new MCP authenticate flow

Read the full file on GitHub · 76 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. 2d ago First seen · 76 lines · 38 tokens per session scan C 6a034d7faa13

Subscribe to this mod's changes

brb is a command published in the GitHub repository alleneubank/claude-code (52 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 38 tokens to every session and 1,048 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it C with 2 findings (asks for root, unrestricted tool access). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.