A command for structured problem-solving through Serena, an MCP-based development assistant. MCP is a standard way for an AI agent to use connected tools.

Use it to debug issues, design systems, review or optimize code, implement features step by step, and create implementation todos.

It gives common development tasks a repeatable format and lets you choose how much analysis, detail, research, or implementation guidance to request.

serena — Command for Claude Code by arkatom/ai-instructions

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.

Clone the repo

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/arkatom/ai-instructions

Made for: Claude Code.

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.

README.md

[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/arkatom/ai-instructions/serena/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/arkatom/ai-instructions/serena)

Your own site

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/arkatom/ai-instructions/serena"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/arkatom/ai-instructions/serena/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>

Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.

Your own site · 80×15

<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/arkatom/ai-instructions/serena"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/arkatom/ai-instructions/serena.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>

Per session 12 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.

When invoked 1,710 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.

Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.

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.

Model	Per session	Once invoked
Fable 5.1	$0.00012	$0.01710
Opus 5.5	$0.00005	$0.00684
Sonnet 5.5	$0.00002	$0.00342
Haiku 4.5	$0.00001	$0.00171

Measured 2mo ago against content hash 1f871b3380a9, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-10-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

serena 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 2mo 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.

.claude/commands/serena.md · 179 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 179 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Quick Reference

/serena <problem> [options]           # Basic usage
/serena debug "memory leak in prod"   # Debug pattern (5-8 thoughts)
/serena design "auth system"          # Design pattern (8-12 thoughts)
/serena review "optimize this code"   # Review pattern (4-7 thoughts)
/serena implement "add feature X"     # Implementation (6-10 thoughts)

Options

Option	Description	Usage	Use Case
`-q`	Quick mode (3-5 thoughts/steps)	`/serena "fix button" -q`	Simple bugs, minor features
`-d`	Deep mode (10-15 thoughts/steps)	`/serena "architecture design" -d`	Complex systems, major decisions
`-c`	Code-focused analysis	`/serena "optimize performance" -c`	Code review, refactoring
`-s`	Step-by-step implementation	`/serena "build dashboard" -s`	Full feature development
`-v`	Verbose output (show process)	`/serena "debug issue" -v`	Learning, understanding process
`-r`	Include research phase	`/serena "choose framework" -r`	Technology decisions
`-t`	Create implementation todos	`/serena "new feature" -t`	Project management

Usage Patterns

Basic Usage

# Simple problem solving
/serena "fix login bug"

# Quick feature implementation
/serena "add search filter" -q

# Code optimization
/serena "improve load time" -c

Advanced Usage

# Complex system design with research
/serena "design microservices architecture" -d -r -v

# Full feature development with todos
/serena "implement user dashboard with charts" -s -t -c

# Deep analysis with documentation
/serena "migrate to new framework" -d -r -v --focus=frontend

Context (Auto-gathered)

Project files: !find . -maxdepth 2 -name "package.json" -o -name "*.config.*" | head -5 2>/dev/null || echo "No config files"
Git status: !git status --porcelain 2>/dev/null | head -3 || echo "Not git repo"

Core Workflow

1. Problem Detection & Template Selection

Automatically select thinking pattern based on keywords:

Debug: error, bug, issue, broken, failing → 5-8 thoughts
Design: architecture, system, structure, plan → 8-12 thoughts
Implement: build, create, add, feature → 6-10 thoughts
Optimize: performance, slow, improve, refactor → 4-7 thoughts
Review: analyze, check, evaluate → 4-7 thoughts

Read the full file on GitHub · 179 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.

2mo ago First seen · 179 lines · 12 tokens per session scan A 1f871b3380a9

Subscribe to this mod's changes

serena is a command published in the GitHub repository arkatom/ai-instructions (1 stars, last pushed 11mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 12 tokens to every session and 1,710 once invoked, about $0.0000 per session on Opus 5.5. 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 2026-08-31.

Building agents

serena next to 6 commands from other repositories
Mod	Type	Stars	Last push	Licence	Scan	Tokens	Works with
serenaarkatom/ai-instructions	Command	1	11mo ago	MIT	A	12	Claude Code
checklistgithub/spec-kit	Command	148k	yesterday	MIT	A	13	Claude Code
clarifygithub/spec-kit	Command	148k	yesterday	MIT	A	27	Claude Code
specifygithub/spec-kit	Command	148k	yesterday	MIT	A	13	Claude Code
analyzegithub/spec-kit	Command	148k	yesterday	MIT	A	26	Claude Code
convergegithub/spec-kit	Command	148k	yesterday	MIT	A	35	Claude Code
implementgithub/spec-kit	Command	148k	yesterday	MIT	A	14	Claude Code