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/nicograef/handbook/understandnpx skills add nicograef/handbook --skill understandgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/nicograef/handbookWrote 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.
[](https://agentmods.dev/skills/nicograef/handbook/understand)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/nicograef/handbook/understand"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/nicograef/handbook/understand.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>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.
| Model | Per session | Once invoked |
|---|---|---|
| Fable 5.1 | $0.00078 | $0.00606 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00039 | $0.00303 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00016 | $0.00121 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00008 | $0.00061 |
Grade A, and why
understand 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 yesterday.
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.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 61 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Understand
Invocation
An ambiguous reference is usually resolvable: search the repo for the symbol or path first. Ask only when two candidates survive that search, per the ask gate.
Workflow
- Cross-layer mapping — for a DB table, find the repository, service, handler, and frontend touching it. Map the reverse direction too.
- ADRs / RFCs — search
docs/(anddocs/adrs/,docs/rfcs/,docs/decisions/) for architecture decision records on this area.
Explain
Present a structured explanation, adapted in depth to the focus area, following this outline:
- Overview — one paragraph: what this is and why it exists.
- Key concepts — the domain terms and abstractions the reader needs.
- How it works — walk through the main flow(s) step by step.
- Connections — diagram or list of dependencies and dependents.
- History & rationale — why it was built this way, key decisions, evolution.
- Patterns & conventions — design patterns, coding conventions observed.
- Risks & limitations — tech debt, fragile areas, known issues.
Anchor explanations with code snippets; use Mermaid for relationships.
Constraints
- Read-only. Never modify code, create files, or propose changes; this skill only explores and explains.
- Verify before claiming. Read the actual source; never guess what code contains or how it works.
- Cite locations. Anchor key claims to a file and line range (e.g.
src/orders/checkout.ts:42-67). - Cite history. Use commit hashes for history claims.
- Synthesis. A synthesis paragraph needs no citation of its own when the sections it draws on are already cited.
- Stay focused. Explore connections broadly; keep the explanation centred on the user's focus area. Don't dump the entire codebase.
- No assumptions about intent. If evidence (git history, ADRs, comments) leaves a design choice unclear, say so explicitly. Never speculate.
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.
- yesterday Changed · -57 lines 66ab1c0f9c51
- 5d ago First seen · 118 lines · 78 tokens per session scan A 45a413fe945a
understand is a skill published in the GitHub repository nicograef/handbook (2 stars, last pushed 2d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 78 tokens to every session and 606 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.
Other skills, from other repositories
systematic-debugging
Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes.
local-ai-agents
Build local-first AI agents that run entirely on a developer workstation with Microsoft Foundry Local and Qwen function-calling models. Covers Small Language Models (SLMs), the OpenAI-compatible local endpoint, sandboxed local tools, local RAG with Chroma, local MCP servers, hybrid cloud/local routing, and the…
next-cache-components-adoption
Turn on Cache Components in a Next.js app and resolve the blocking routes it surfaces. Use when the user wants to enable, adopt, or migrate to Cache Components, flip the cacheComponents flag, work through a flood of blocking-prerender / instant validation errors, run the cache-components-instant-false codemod, or…
next-cache-components-optimizer
Drive a Next.js route to instant navigation by setting up an agentic loop, under Cache Components / PPR, on initial load (hard navigation) and client-side navigation (soft navigation). Encode the goal as a failing @next/playwright instant() e2e and work it to green, one verified route at a time; the shipped test then…
next-partial-prefetching-adoption
Turn on Partial Prefetching in a Next.js app and work through the insights it surfaces. Use when the user wants to enable or adopt Partial Prefetching, flip the partialPrefetching flag, opt routes in with export const prefetch = 'partial', audit Link prefetch={true} behavior, preserve existing prefetched UI with…
chronicle
Analyze Copilot session history for standup reports, usage tips, session search, and session reindexing. Use when the user asks for a standup, daily summary, usage tips, workflow recommendations, wants to search or find past sessions by keyword/file/PR, wants to reindex their session store, or asks about deleting…