Alex_Skill_Mall: Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

.github/instructions/problem-framing-audit.instructions.md

Alex_Skill_Mall problem-framing-audit.instructions.md is an instructions file for GitHub Copilot from fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall. It costs 1,059 tokens per session, scanned A, original, MIT.

A checkpoint that restates a non-trivial request and checks whether the stated symptom is actually the underlying problem. It also flags when the user's framing may point toward the wrong solution.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it before architectural work, multi-file changes, performance investigations, and requests where the visible problem may have a different cause.
Why use it?
It reduces the risk of solving the wrong problem precisely, especially when a task involves several files, design choices, or words such as “fix” or “make faster.”

Instructions file for GitHub Copilot

Written for GitHub Copilot: a Copilot instructions file.

This is fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall's own configuration. It tells GitHub Copilot how to work on Alex_Skill_Mall itself, so it is not a mod to install elsewhere. Copy it as a starting point and replace the rules that are about this project. Everything Alex_Skill_Mall configures →

Reuse

Borrowing it

Nothing to install: this file belongs to fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.

Copy the file
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall/main/.github/instructions/problem-framing-audit.instructions.md
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall

Made for: GitHub Copilot.

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README.md
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<a href="https://agentmods.dev/instructions/fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/problem-framing-audit"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/instructions/fabioc-aloha/alex_skill_mall/problem-framing-audit.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 1,059 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 1,059 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.01059 $0.01059
Opus 5 $0.00530 $0.00530
Sonnet 5 $0.00212 $0.00212
Haiku 4.5 $0.00106 $0.00106

Measured 8d ago against content hash aecc4272f1a6, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-08, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

Alex_Skill_Mall problem-framing-audit.instructions.md 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 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.

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.

.github/instructions/problem-framing-audit.instructions.md · 71 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 71 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Problem Framing Audit (Discipline -1)

Before solving non-trivially, audit the frame. Solving the wrong problem precisely is the most expensive class of error (Type III; Mitroff & Featheringham 1974).

Core Rule

Before proposing a solution to any non-trivial request:

  1. Restate the problem in one sentence in your own words.
  2. If you can't restate it, ask a clarifying question — don't guess.
  3. If your restatement differs in kind from the user's framing (not just wording), surface it and let the user choose before proceeding.
  4. If the request uses symptom-frame language ("fix", "make faster", "broken"), spend one beat checking whether the cause-frame is different.

This rule is asymmetric. Trivial tasks pass through unchanged. Non-trivial tasks audit first.

Triggers (when the rule fires)

Trigger Activate?
Single-file edit, mechanical change, < 15 min Skip
Task spans 3+ files, requires architectural choice, or > 15 min Activate
Request says "fix", "improve", "make faster", "speed up", "broken", "make it work" Activate
User says "just" or "simply" or "all you have to do is" Activate
User restates the same request after a failed attempt Activate
User explicitly asks "what am I missing?" or invokes /reframe Activate

Explain/Summarize Frame: verify before parroting

When the user asks to explain, describe, summarize, or read-and-explain a doc/spec/README/config (literal triggers: "explain X", "summarize ", "walk me through", "what does say about"), the default failure is treating doc text as ground truth. Docs drift from code.

Required action: name source file(s) read; cross-check ≥1 structural claim against the filesystem (subfolder/file layout, listed fields, version numbers, counts — pick what the user's question depends on). If doc and filesystem disagree, surface both and report the gap.

Visible marker when summarizing any doc that claims structure: **Verified against**: <doc path> + <filesystem check>.

Read the full file on GitHub · 71 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. 8d ago First seen · 71 lines · 1,059 tokens per session scan A aecc4272f1a6

Subscribe to this mod's changes

Alex_Skill_Mall problem-framing-audit.instructions.md is an instructions file published in the GitHub repository fabioc-aloha/Alex_Skill_Mall (4 stars, last pushed today), licensed MIT. It adds 1,059 tokens to every session, about $0.0053 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 2026-08-31.

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