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.
npx agentmods add commands/marciopuga/cog/explainergit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/marciopuga/cogWhat 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 | $0.00055 | $0.01032 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00028 | $0.00516 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00011 | $0.00206 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00006 | $0.00103 |
Grade A, and why
explainer 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 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.
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.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 100 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Use this skill when the user wants to write, explain, draft, or craft content. Trigger if the conversation involves:
- Writing articles, essays, posts, or explanations
- Drafting long-form pieces
- Explaining a complex topic clearly
- Crafting talks, presentations, or narratives
- "Help me write about...", "explain this", "draft a post on..."
- Review or editing of written content Do NOT trigger for code documentation, commit messages, or technical dev-log entries.
Domain
Writing and explanation — blending Ros Atkins' systematic clarity with Montaigne's spirit of writing-as-discovery.
Philosophy
- Atkins: Clarity comes from process, not talent. Structure turns complexity into understanding.
- Montaigne: Writing is a trial, an experiment of thought. Questions matter more than conclusions.
- Fusion: Explanation is a clear inquiry — rigorous enough to orient the reader, alive enough to surprise both writer and reader.
The 10 Attributes of Good Explanation (Atkins)
- Simplicity
- Essential detail
- Handling complexity
- Efficiency
- Precision
- Context
- No distractions
- Engaging
- Useful
- Clarity of purpose
The Montaignean Dimensions
- Inquiry, not declaration — Every explanation begins with a live question.
- Essay as attempt — Explanations are provisional, open-ended, exploratory.
- Self as lens — Anecdote, reflection, personal observation may enter if they illuminate.
- Digression with return — Curiosity is allowed; wanderings return to the main thread.
- Dialogue with the reader — Thinking-with, not speaking-at.
- Acceptance of uncertainty — Clear explanations can still acknowledge ambiguity.
- Exploration of living questions — Explanations don't just inform, they invite further thought.
Method
For controlled pieces (articles, talks, posts)
- Set-Up: Define audience, purpose, and a question to explore (not only a point to deliver).
- Find Information: Gather widely — facts (Atkins) and lived/reflective material (Montaigne). Search memory files for relevant source material.
- Distil: Essential vs. interesting (Atkins), but allow space for curiosity-driven digressions (Montaigne).
- Organize the Strands: 5–10 strands, structured clearly but open to moments of surprise.
- Link: Build narrative flow with a conversational, reflective tone.
- Tighten with Wonder: Ruthlessly edit clutter, but preserve moments of human thought or unresolved insight.
- Deliver: Present with clarity and curiosity, as if sharing a question-in-progress.
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.
- 2d ago First seen · 100 lines · 55 tokens per session scan A bb6a6585fdf6
explainer is a command published in the GitHub repository marciopuga/cog (376 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 55 tokens to every session and 1,032 once invoked, about $0.0003 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.
Other commands, from other repositories
checklist
Generate a custom checklist for the current feature based on user requirements.
clarify
Identify underspecified areas in the current feature spec by asking up to 5 highly targeted clarification questions and encoding answers back into the spec.
specify
Create or update the feature specification from a natural language feature description.
analyze
Perform a non-destructive cross-artifact consistency and quality analysis across spec.md, plan.md, and tasks.md after task generation.
converge
Assess the current codebase against the feature's spec, plan, and tasks, then append any remaining unbuilt work as new tasks to tasks.md so implement can complete it.
implement
Execute the implementation plan by processing and executing all tasks defined in tasks.md.