ape-write-pseudocode

ape-write-pseudocode is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from arpitbbhayani/ape-skills. It costs 75 tokens per session (1,001 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A style guide for writing pseudocode, a simplified description of an algorithm that focuses on intent instead of language-specific implementation. It defines a consistent function structure, Python-like notation, clear operation names, and restrained control flow.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when sketching an algorithm, describing a function at a high level, or writing pseudocode before choosing a programming language or implementation.
Why use it?
It makes algorithm sketches easier to read and discuss before real code is written. The rules reduce vague prose, unnecessary implementation details, and multiple ideas being hidden in one line.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one.

Good fit Use it when sketching an algorithm, describing a function at a high level, or writing pseudocode before choosing a programming language or implementation.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills/ape-write-pseudocode
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 arpitbbhayani/ape-skills --skill ape-write-pseudocode
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

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 ape-write-pseudocode

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills/ape-write-pseudocode/github.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills/ape-write-pseudocode)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills/ape-write-pseudocode"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills/ape-write-pseudocode/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 ape-write-pseudocode

Your own site · 80×15
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills/ape-write-pseudocode"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/arpitbbhayani/ape-skills/ape-write-pseudocode.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" height="20"></a>
Per session 75 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,001 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. Third-party audits
  • NVIDIA SkillSpector pass 7 Sept 2026
How audits are shown
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 $0.00075 $0.01001
Opus 5 $0.00037 $0.00500
Sonnet 5 $0.00015 $0.00200
Haiku 4.5 $0.00007 $0.00100

Measured 10d ago against content hash 52101dfa0946, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-09, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

ape-write-pseudocode 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 10d 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.

ape-write-pseudocode/SKILL.md · 140 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 140 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Pseudocode Style Guide

Structure of a Function

Every pseudocode function has exactly three parts: input, output, and body. Use Python-like syntax: def for the function signature, a docstring-style comment block for input and output, and indented body lines.

def function_name(param1, param2, ...):
    # input:  <what each param represents>
    # output: <what the function returns or produces>

    <body>

Body Rules

The body is the core of the pseudocode. Each line is a pythonic, non-functional call that names the operation and its operands -- not English prose. Invent clear, intuitive method or function names. The goal is code that reads like intent, not implementation.

  • One call per logical step.
  • Use object.verb(args) or verb(args) style -- never English sentences.
  • No type annotations, no real data-structure internals, no language-specific APIs.
  • Intermediate variable names are fine when they connect two steps.
  • Never more than one idea per line.

Control Flow

Use if, elif, else, and loops sparingly and only when the branching or iteration is the point of the logic. Conditions are also written as code-like expressions, not prose.

if condition_call(args):
    ...
else:
    ...

for item in collection:
    ...

while not done():
    ...

What to Write on Each Line

Each line should look like a call you would recognise but cannot actually run.

Good patterns:

  • nodes.filter_reachable_from(source)
  • entries.sort_by(timestamp, order=ASC)
  • graph.shortest_path(source)
  • candidates.pick_highest_score()
  • merge_sorted(left, right)

Bad patterns:

  • "filter nodes by reachability from source" -- English sentence, not code
  • dist[v] = dist[u] + weight(u, v) -- actual implementation code
  • initialize a min-heap priority queue with (0, source) -- prose + detail
  • list.stream().filter(x -> x > 0).collect(...) -- real language API

Examples

Good:

def lsm_write(key, value):
    # input:  key and value to store
    # output: acknowledgement that write is recorded

    memtable.append(key, value)
    if memtable.exceeds_threshold():
        sstable = memtable.flush_to_disk()
        memtable.clear()

Read the full file on GitHub · 140 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. 10d ago First seen · 140 lines · 75 tokens per session scan A 52101dfa0946

Subscribe to this mod's changes

ape-write-pseudocode is a skill published in the GitHub repository arpitbbhayani/ape-skills (37 stars, last pushed yesterday), licensed MIT. It adds 75 tokens to every session and 1,001 once invoked, about $0.0004 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.

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