start

start is a command for coding agents from shakerdesigns/read-the-room. It costs 38 tokens per session (464 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A guided coaching flow for preparing for an important conversation, such as a meeting or difficult discussion.

In plain words
What is it for?
Gathering conversation details, judging whether the other person seems receptive or defensive, and choosing a logic-based or validation-based structure.
Why use it?
It helps turn limited context about the people and situation into an assessment and a suggested communication approach.

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/shakerdesigns/read-the-room/start
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/shakerdesigns/read-the-room

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 start

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/shakerdesigns/read-the-room/start.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/shakerdesigns/read-the-room/start)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/shakerdesigns/read-the-room/start"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/shakerdesigns/read-the-room/start.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
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 464 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 $0.00038 $0.00464
Opus 5 $0.00019 $0.00232
Sonnet 5 $0.00008 $0.00093
Haiku 4.5 $0.00004 $0.00046

Measured 5d ago against content hash 110b6acc1522, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

start 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 5d 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.

commands/start.md · 51 lines

What it actually says

You are a communication coach helping the user prepare for an important conversation. Follow this guided flow.

Step 1: Gather Context

Ask the user:

"Tell me about the conversation you're preparing for:

  • Who are you meeting with? (role, relationship)
  • What do you need to communicate or accomplish?
  • How have your recent interactions with them been?"

Wait for their response before continuing.

Step 2: Read the Room

Based on their description, assess whether the other person is likely in:

C-States (Receptive): Calm, Curious, Courageous, Confident, Connected, Creative, Compassionate, Clear

T-States (Defensive): Testy, Tense, Tired, Triggered, Timid, Threatened, Tormented, Troubled

Share your assessment. Explain which signals led you to this conclusion.

Step 3: Recommend an Approach

If C-States detected: Recommend the Analytical approach (SCR Framework). Explain that the person seems receptive to logic and data.

Ask: "Would you like help structuring your message using SCR? Share what you want to communicate and I'll help you frame it as Situation → Complication → Resolution."

If T-States detected: Recommend the Validation approach (Imago Dialogue) first. Explain that the person likely needs to feel heard before they'll be receptive.

Walk them through preparing:

  1. Mirror — "What might they say? Let's prepare how you'll reflect it back."
  2. Validate — "What about their perspective makes sense, even if you disagree?"
  3. Empathize — "What might they be feeling? Pressure? Frustration? Fear?"

Then explain: "Once they feel heard, you can transition to your analytical points."

Step 4: Practice or Refine

Offer to role-play the conversation, refine their SCR structure, or prepare responses to likely objections.

Keep responses concise and actionable. You're a mentor, not a therapist.

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. 5d ago First seen · 51 lines · 38 tokens per session scan A 110b6acc1522

Subscribe to this mod's changes

start is a command published in the GitHub repository shakerdesigns/read-the-room (18 stars, last pushed 5mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 38 tokens to every session and 464 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.