sequential-thinking

A structured method for solving difficult problems through a sequence of small thoughts that can be revised as new information appears. It is intended for complex analysis, planning, debugging, and checking hypotheses.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to break down complex tasks, compare approaches, test explanations, adjust plans, and preserve the reasoning context across steps.
Why use it?
It helps keep multi-step reasoning organized when the scope is unclear or an early assumption turns out to be wrong.

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/duongductrong/cursor-kit/sequential-thinking
Any agent
npx skills add duongductrong/cursor-kit --skill sequential-thinking
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/duongductrong/cursor-kit

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 53 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 678 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin 86% copy Near-identical to another mod 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 $0.00053 $0.00678
Opus 5 $0.00026 $0.00339
Sonnet 5 $0.00011 $0.00136
Haiku 4.5 $0.00005 $0.00068

Measured 2d ago against content hash e798ce8e1ce5, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

sequential-thinking 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.

The scan reads SKILL.md. This mod also ships 4 executable files (scripts/format-thought.js, scripts/process-thought.js, tests/format-thought.test.js, …), listed below but not scanned — reading those needs a real analyzer, not pattern matching.

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.

Origin

This is a copy

86% identical to vc-sequential-thinking — 13 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

templates/skills/sequential-thinking/SKILL.md · 95 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 95 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Sequential Thinking

Structured problem-solving via manageable, reflective thought sequences with dynamic adjustment.

When to Apply

  • Complex problem decomposition
  • Adaptive planning with revision capability
  • Analysis needing course correction
  • Problems with unclear/emerging scope
  • Multi-step solutions requiring context maintenance
  • Hypothesis-driven investigation/debugging

Core Process

1. Start with Loose Estimate

Thought 1/5: [Initial analysis]

Adjust dynamically as understanding evolves.

2. Structure Each Thought

  • Build on previous context explicitly
  • Address one aspect per thought
  • State assumptions, uncertainties, realizations
  • Signal what next thought should address

3. Apply Dynamic Adjustment

  • Expand: More complexity discovered → increase total
  • Contract: Simpler than expected → decrease total
  • Revise: New insight invalidates previous → mark revision
  • Branch: Multiple approaches → explore alternatives

4. Use Revision When Needed

Thought 5/8 [REVISION of Thought 2]: [Corrected understanding]
- Original: [What was stated]
- Why revised: [New insight]
- Impact: [What changes]

5. Branch for Alternatives

Thought 4/7 [BRANCH A from Thought 2]: [Approach A]
Thought 4/7 [BRANCH B from Thought 2]: [Approach B]

Compare explicitly, converge with decision rationale.

6. Generate & Verify Hypotheses

Thought 6/9 [HYPOTHESIS]: [Proposed solution]
Thought 7/9 [VERIFICATION]: [Test results]

Iterate until hypothesis verified.

7. Complete Only When Ready

Mark final: Thought N/N [FINAL]

Complete when:

  • Solution verified
  • All critical aspects addressed
  • Confidence achieved
  • No outstanding uncertainties

Application Modes

Explicit: Use visible thought markers when complexity warrants visible reasoning or user requests breakdown.

Implicit: Apply methodology internally for routine problem-solving where thinking aids accuracy without cluttering response.

Scripts (Optional)

Read the full file on GitHub · 95 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 · 95 lines · 53 tokens per session scan A e798ce8e1ce5

Subscribe to this mod's changes

sequential-thinking is a skill published in the GitHub repository duongductrong/cursor-kit (21 stars, last pushed 5mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 53 tokens to every session and 678 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 86% identical to vc-sequential-thinking, differing in 13 lines, and is treated as a copy.

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