iterate-step-by-step

iterate-step-by-step is a skill for Claude Code from alivirgo/Major-AI-Skills. It costs 37 tokens per session (991 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A four-step conversation workflow for building complex code, strategy, or content in stages: outline, build, test edge cases, then polish. It is designed to avoid asking for a large finished result in one response.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to break large implementation, planning, or writing tasks into manageable rounds and review risks before the final version.
Why use it?
It reduces skipped requirements and shallow work caused by trying to solve a large task all at once. Each turn gives the user a chance to guide the next stage.

Skill for Claude Code

Written for Claude Code: shipped in a Claude Code plugin. Also seen: mentions Codex.

Part of the major-ai-skills plugin — 147 skills, 8 plugins shipped together

Good fit Use it to break large implementation, planning, or writing tasks into manageable rounds and review risks before the final version.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/alivirgo/major-ai-skills/iterate-step-by-step
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.

Any agent
npx skills add alivirgo/Major-AI-Skills --skill iterate-step-by-step
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/alivirgo/Major-AI-Skills

Made for: Claude Code.

Or install major-ai-skills, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 147 skills, 8 plugins.

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 iterate-step-by-step

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/alivirgo/major-ai-skills/iterate-step-by-step/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/alivirgo/major-ai-skills/iterate-step-by-step)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/alivirgo/major-ai-skills/iterate-step-by-step"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/alivirgo/major-ai-skills/iterate-step-by-step/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.

agentmods 80×15 button for iterate-step-by-step

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/alivirgo/major-ai-skills/iterate-step-by-step"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/alivirgo/major-ai-skills/iterate-step-by-step.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 37 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 991 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.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00037 $0.00991
Opus 5 $0.00018 $0.00495
Sonnet 5 $0.00007 $0.00198
Haiku 4.5 $0.00004 $0.00099

Measured 7d ago against content hash 202fb53dd365, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-12, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

iterate-step-by-step 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 7d 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.

skills/iterate-step-by-step/SKILL.md · 87 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 87 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Iterate Step-by-Step (Conversational Scaffolding) (AI Skill)

Overview

Expecting an AI to produce a finished, 10/10 masterpiece in a single massive prompt ("Write a complete multi-chapter marketing strategy and all ad copy") is a recipe for disappointment. The model spreads its attention across too many variables, producing shallow text and skipped details.

The Conversational Scaffolding Protocol breaks production into a 4-Turn Agile Loop: scaffold the outline $\rightarrow$ build the core engine $\rightarrow$ harden edge cases $\rightarrow$ polish the final output.


The 4-Turn Scaffolding Pipeline

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 4-Turn Scaffolding Pipeline                 │
│                                                             │
│  [ TURN 1: Wireframe / Skeleton ] ──► Agree on structure    │
│                 │                                           │
│  [ TURN 2: Core Drafting / Build ] ──► Generate meat        │
│                 │                                           │
│  [ TURN 3: Stress-Test & Edges ]   ──► Catch flaws & bugs   │
│                 │                                           │
│  [ TURN 4: Surgical Polish ]       ──► Voice, SEO, & CTA    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Master Iteration Prompt Templates

Pattern 1: The 4-Turn Execution Script

Use when building a complex deliverable (e.g. business plan, landing page, software module):

<!-- TURN 1: The Skeleton -->
"We are going to build [PROJECT]. Do NOT write the content yet.
Give me a 5-point structural outline. I will review and adjust."

<!-- TURN 2: The Core Build (After adjusting Turn 1) -->
"The outline is locked. Now write Section 1 and Section 2 ONLY. 
Follow our agreed constraints and focus on high depth."

<!-- TURN 3: Edge-Case Hardening -->
"Now review what we have so far. Where are the weak points or missing scenarios? 
Suggest 3 specific additions."

<!-- TURN 4: The Final Polish -->
"Apply the additions from Turn 3 and output the polished, production-ready version."

Read the full file on GitHub · 87 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. 7d ago First seen · 87 lines · 37 tokens per session scan A 202fb53dd365

Subscribe to this mod's changes

iterate-step-by-step is a skill published in the GitHub repository alivirgo/Major-AI-Skills (1 stars, last pushed today), licensed MIT. It adds 37 tokens to every session and 991 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 2026-09-05.