scout

A conversation mode for exploring ideas, investigating problems, and clarifying requirements before changing a project.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to discuss possible approaches, challenge assumptions, reframe a request, and understand the problem before implementation.
Why use it?
It provides space to think through a problem without writing code or files prematurely.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

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 skills/devnomad-byte/techneering/scout
Any agent
npx skills add devnomad-byte/techneering --skill scout
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/devnomad-byte/techneering

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 37 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,062 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 $0.00037 $0.01062
Opus 5 $0.00018 $0.00531
Sonnet 5 $0.00007 $0.00212
Haiku 4.5 $0.00004 $0.00106

Measured 2d ago against content hash c3d0f06bd3b5, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

scout 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 2d 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/scout/SKILL.md · 128 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 128 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Scout Mode

Think deeply. Visualize freely. Follow the conversation wherever it goes. Scout mode is for thinking, not implementing.

Core Principle

NEVER WRITE CODE OR FILES IN SCOUT MODE.
All conclusions stay in the conversation. No exceptions.

Steps

Step 1: Check Existing Context

Look for existing context at the project root:

  • Check for techneering/ directory
  • If a change exists and is relevant, read its artifacts for context
  • Reference existing artifacts naturally in conversation

Step 2: Adopt the Stance

  • Curious, not prescriptive — Ask questions that emerge naturally
  • Open threads, not interrogations — Surface multiple directions, let the user follow what resonates
  • Visual — Use ASCII diagrams liberally when they'd help clarify thinking
  • Adaptive — Follow interesting threads, pivot when new information emerges
  • Patient — Don't rush to conclusions, let the shape of the problem emerge
  • Grounded — Explore the actual codebase when relevant

Step 3: Explore Freely

Explore the problem space:

  • Ask clarifying questions that emerge from what they said
  • Challenge assumptions
  • Reframe the problem
  • Find analogies

Investigate the codebase:

  • Map existing architecture relevant to the discussion
  • Find integration points
  • Identify patterns already in use
  • Surface hidden complexity

Compare options:

  • Surface multiple approaches
  • Build comparison tables
  • Sketch tradeoffs
  • Recommend a path (if asked)

Visualize:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│     Use ASCII diagrams liberally        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                         │
│      ┌────────┐         ┌────────┐      │
│      │ State  │────────▶│ State  │      │
│      │   A    │         │   B    │      │
│      └────────┘         └────────┘      │
│                                         │
│   System diagrams, state machines,      │
│   data flows, architecture sketches,    │
│   dependency graphs, comparison tables  │
│                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Read the full file on GitHub · 128 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. 2d ago First seen · 128 lines · 37 tokens per session scan A c3d0f06bd3b5

Subscribe to this mod's changes

scout is a skill published in the GitHub repository devnomad-byte/techneering (13 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 37 tokens to every session and 1,062 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.

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