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.
npx agentmods add skills/manhvann/codexkit/problem-solvingnpx skills add manhvann/codexkit --skill problem-solvinggit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/manhvann/codexkitWhat 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.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5 | $0.00036 | $0.00905 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00018 | $0.00452 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00007 | $0.00181 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00004 | $0.00090 |
Grade A, and why
ck:problem-solving 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.
This is a copy
94% identical to vc-problem-solving — 10 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.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 98 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Problem-Solving Techniques
Systematic approaches for different types of stuck-ness. Each technique targets specific problem patterns.
When to Use
Apply when encountering:
- Complexity spiraling - Multiple implementations, growing special cases, excessive branching
- Innovation blocks - Conventional solutions inadequate, need breakthrough thinking
- Recurring patterns - Same issue across domains, reinventing solutions
- Assumption constraints - Forced into "only way", can't question premise
- Scale uncertainty - Production readiness unclear, edge cases unknown
- General stuck-ness - Unsure which technique applies
Quick Dispatch
Match symptom to technique:
| Stuck Symptom | Technique | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Same thing implemented 5+ ways, growing special cases | Simplification Cascades | references/simplification-cascades.md |
| Conventional solutions inadequate, need breakthrough | Collision-Zone Thinking | references/collision-zone-thinking.md |
| Same issue in different places, reinventing wheels | Meta-Pattern Recognition | references/meta-pattern-recognition.md |
| Solution feels forced, "must be done this way" | Inversion Exercise | references/inversion-exercise.md |
| Will this work at production? Edge cases unclear? | Scale Game | references/scale-game.md |
| Unsure which technique to use | When Stuck | references/when-stuck.md |
Core Techniques
1. Simplification Cascades
Find one insight eliminating multiple components. "If this is true, we don't need X, Y, Z."
Key insight: Everything is a special case of one general pattern.
Red flag: "Just need to add one more case..." (repeating forever)
2. Collision-Zone Thinking
Force unrelated concepts together to discover emergent properties. "What if we treated X like Y?"
Key insight: Revolutionary ideas from deliberate metaphor-mixing.
Red flag: "I've tried everything in this domain"
What ships with it
7 files beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.
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.
- 2d ago First seen · 98 lines · 36 tokens per session scan A b798b960fa76
ck:problem-solving is a skill published in the GitHub repository manhvann/codexkit (88 stars, last pushed 3d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 36 tokens to every session and 905 once invoked, about $0.0002 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 94% identical to vc-problem-solving, differing in 10 lines, and is treated as a copy.
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