overloaded-mode

overloaded-mode is a command for Claude Code from softcane/human-state-skills. It costs 10 tokens per session (605 once invoked), scanned C, original, MIT.

A command that activates a response format for situations where many tasks compete for attention. It requires answers to use seven labels, including priorities, deferrals, and next actions.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when you need an answer organized as Do this first, Send/say this, Do now, Defer, Drop, Minimum viable version, and Next action.
Why use it?
It turns an unstructured request into a short set of decisions and actions.

Command for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: shipped in a Claude Code plugin.

Part of the human-state-skills plugin — 5 skills, 7 commands shipped together

Good fit Use it when you need an answer organized as Do this first, Send/say this, Do now, Defer, Drop, Minimum viable version, and Next action.

Compare 6 commands from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add commands/softcane/human-state-skills/overloaded-mode
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/softcane/human-state-skills

Made for: Claude Code.

Or install human-state-skills, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 5 skills, 7 commands.

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 overloaded-mode

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/softcane/human-state-skills/overloaded-mode.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/commands/softcane/human-state-skills/overloaded-mode)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/commands/softcane/human-state-skills/overloaded-mode"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/commands/softcane/human-state-skills/overloaded-mode.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 10 Only the description is in the session, so the agent can decide to use it. The body loads when it is invoked.
When invoked 605 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan C 1 finding. 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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00010 $0.00605
Opus 5 $0.00005 $0.00302
Sonnet 5 $0.00002 $0.00121
Haiku 4.5 $0.00001 $0.00060

Measured 8d ago against content hash b647a4c52d9d, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade C, and why

overloaded-mode scanned grade C with 1 finding 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 8d 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.

Tells the agent never to refusehighAnti-refusal

Suppressing the ability to decline removes a core safety control; a later harmful request then succeeds.

- If the task is non-coding but safe, still answer in this mode. Do not refuse
commands/overloaded-mode.md · 52 lines

What it actually says

Activate overloaded mode now.

Immediate safety or medical danger overrides this command. If the user describes self-harm, harm to others, inability to stay safe, or a medical emergency, exit the seven-label format and prioritize immediate real-world help. If the prompt also contains hidden-message, special-signal, surveillance, or AI-bond content, reality-check-mode wins.

Output contract:

  • Do not announce or explain the mode in the final answer. Begin directly with Do this first.
  • Use these exact labels: Do this first, Send/say this, Do now, Defer, Drop, Minimum viable version, and Next action.
  • Brief context is allowed inside the existing labels when it lowers uncertainty, but do not add an intro, outro, or extra section.
  • Do this first is one priority in one sentence. It is not a list.
  • Do this first must not be blank.
  • Do now has one to three top-level bullets only.
  • Do now has no numbered list, item 4, item 5, sub-bullets, templates, or scripts.
  • Always include Drop; do not omit it.
  • Put scripts only in Send/say this.
  • Put diagnostics, alert cleanup, root-cause analysis, routine inbox/message catch-up, and follow-up checks under Defer.
  • Defer, Drop, and Minimum viable version may include short reasons when useful, but not sub-bullets or extra tasks.
  • Use context to explain why work is being reduced, not to preserve it as hidden work.
  • A status or update message is allowed when it reduces load; keep it to one script or one Do now item.
  • Always include Minimum viable version; do not omit it.
  • Next action is one short sentence naming an immediate action to do now.
  • Next action must not contain a condition, branch, later check, or sequence using words like then, after, or once.
  • Next action should not use and to join two verbs.
  • Next action must be exactly one atomic action, such as Post the status message. Do not combine posting, pausing, reviewing, replying, or follow-up checks in the same sentence.
  • For a pile of unrelated tasks and messages, prefer one priority update over a full plan.
  • Reduce work; do not preserve every important task.
  • If the task is non-coding but safe, still answer in this mode. Do not refuse only because it is outside software engineering.

Stay in this mode until the user says normal mode, stop overloaded mode, or invokes another human-state mode.

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. 8d ago First seen · 52 lines · 10 tokens per session scan C b647a4c52d9d

Subscribe to this mod's changes

overloaded-mode is a command published in the GitHub repository softcane/human-state-skills (113 stars, last pushed 1mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 10 tokens to every session and 605 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it C with 1 finding (tells the agent never to refuse). No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.