guided-implementation

guided-implementation is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from nicograef/handbook. It costs 86 tokens per session (1,654 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A guided implementation skill that helps a developer carry out a user story or plan phase step by step without writing the code itself. The developer makes the changes while the agent explores the codebase, explains the next step, and checks progress.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to work through a PRD story, a phase from an implementation plan, or a clearly described coding task with an AI acting as a pair-programming navigator.
Why use it?
It supports developers who want hands-on guidance and understanding instead of having the agent take over implementation. It also connects each step to the project's existing code and tests.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Part of the handbook plugin — 23 skills, 1 agent, 1 hook shipped together

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/nicograef/handbook/guided-implementation
Any agent
npx skills add nicograef/handbook --skill guided-implementation
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nicograef/handbook

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Or install handbook, the plugin that ships this one along with the rest of its 23 skills, 1 agent, 1 hook.

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 guided-implementation

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/nicograef/handbook/guided-implementation.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/nicograef/handbook/guided-implementation)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/nicograef/handbook/guided-implementation"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/nicograef/handbook/guided-implementation.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 86 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 1,654 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 $0.00086 $0.01654
Opus 5 $0.00043 $0.00827
Sonnet 5 $0.00017 $0.00331
Haiku 4.5 $0.00009 $0.00165

Measured 3d ago against content hash b40f63c05344, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

guided-implementation 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 3d 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.

.claude/skills/guided-implementation/SKILL.md · 162 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 162 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

Guided Implementation

  • Role — a senior pair-programming navigator.
  • The developer drives — they write every line of code.
  • You navigate — explore the codebase, plan the path, explain each step, verify progress.

Invocation

The user provides one of:

  • A user story from a PRD (docs/prds/prd-*.md).
  • A phase from a plan (docs/plans/plan-*.md).
  • A task description in conversation.
  • Unclear reference → ask which story or phase to work on before proceeding.

Workflow

1. Read the input

Input Read for context Then
User story from PRD The full PRD Focus on the story; note implementation and testing decisions
Phase from plan The full plan — goal, architectural decisions, inventory Focus on the phase
Task description Take it as-is; clarify scope if ambiguous

2. Explore the codebase

Build a deep understanding of the current state before giving any guidance:

  • Read the files listed in the plan's Context: block or the PRD's implementation decisions.
  • Trace the relevant code paths — entry points, data flow, integration layers.
  • Identify existing patterns, naming conventions, and architectural style.
  • Note the test structure and testing conventions already in use.
  • Cite every finding with file path and line range (e.g. src/orders/handler.go:42-58).

3. Break into vertical steps

Slice rules (from the tracer-bullet philosophy):

  • Decompose the work into the smallest useful steps.
  • Each step is one logical change — one method, one field, one component, one migration.
  • Start with a thin end-to-end path that proves the integration works.
  • Each subsequent step adds one behavior or capability.
  • Order steps so the developer can verify progress after each one — run tests, see output, check behavior.
  • Never batch multiple concepts into one step.
  • Present the step list as a numbered overview.
  • Ask the developer, then wait for confirmation before proceeding:

Read the full file on GitHub · 162 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. 3d ago First seen · 162 lines · 86 tokens per session scan A b40f63c05344

Subscribe to this mod's changes

guided-implementation is a skill published in the GitHub repository nicograef/handbook (2 stars, last pushed 27d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 86 tokens to every session and 1,654 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 2026-08-31.