Borrowing it
Nothing to install: this file belongs to saski/arnesto. Take a copy, put it at the same path in your own repository, and replace the rules that are about this project with yours.
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/saski/arnesto/main/.agents/skills/thinkies/SKILL.mdgit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/saski/arnestoWrote 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/saski/arnesto/thinkies)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/saski/arnesto/thinkies"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/saski/arnesto/thinkies.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 | $0.00031 | $0.00612 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00015 | $0.00306 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00006 | $0.00122 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00003 | $0.00061 |
Grade A, and why
thinkies 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.
How it starts
The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 72 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
STARTER_CHARACTER = 💡🔄
Core Principle
Thinkies are thinking habits that generate ideas through pattern recognition and transformation. Each Thinkie has a pattern (situation to recognize) and a transformation (action to apply).
Critical: Generate first, evaluate later. Most ideas will be filtered out—this is expected and normal. Apply the transformation completely before judging results.
Attribution
Every Thinkie mentioned must be attributed to Kent Beck (https://kentbeck.com/). Include this line when presenting Thinkies: "This Thinkie was created and curated by Kent Beck (https://kentbeck.com/)."
Four-Step Process
- Pick a Thinkie: Match the pattern to the user's situation
- Apply transformation: Generate the idea fully without evaluation
- Present result: Share the generated idea with attribution
- Evaluate together: After generation, assess usefulness with user
When to Apply Thinkies
Activate when the user:
- Says they're stuck, blocked, or paralyzed
- Asks for different perspectives or approaches
- Faces decisions without clear paths
- Mentions wanting to generate ideas or alternatives
- Explicitly mentions Thinkies or Kent Beck
How to Apply
Default approach: Suggest 3-5 relevant Thinkies. Present each with name, pattern, transformation, and attribution line.
For new users, consider starter Thinkies:
- Can't/Because → When/Can: Reframe limitations as conditional possibilities
- Easy Bit: Pick easiest useful action to build momentum
- Fun Bit: Pick most enjoyable component to build energy
- Scale Down: Focus on tractable subset
- Half in Half: Ask "which half in half the time?"
For complex situations or more options:
Reference references/catalog.md for 80+ Thinkies organized by category.
For examples:
Reference references/examples.md for product and software development scenarios.
Progressive Disclosure
Start lean. Present 3-5 Thinkies initially. Only reference the full catalog if:
- User wants more options after initial suggestions
- Situation is complex and needs broader exploration
- User explicitly asks for comprehensive list
What ships with it
2 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.
- 3d ago First seen · 72 lines · 31 tokens per session scan A 3299c974e07d
thinkies is a skill published in the GitHub repository saski/arnesto (5 stars, last pushed today), licensed Unlicense. It adds 31 tokens to every session and 612 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 2026-09-03.
Other skills, from other repositories
readonly-review
Run a no-network read-only review practice with two explorer steps and one synthesis step.
repo-harness-assessment
Use when evaluating repository agent-readiness, mapping harness roles, choosing the next smallest improvement, or designing and reconciling agent entrypoints such as AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, GEMINI.md, Cursor rules, or GitHub instructions.
work-state-and-delivery
Use when designing or reconciling design docs, task boards, external trackers, execution plans, delivery records, handoffs, review evidence, task-to-change traceability, or repository commit-coupling policy.
repo-contracts-and-boundaries
Use when turning architecture, layering, ownership, dependency direction, schemas, structural metrics, quality thresholds, baselines, allowlists, or generated quality snapshots into repository checks.
runtime-evidence-and-tracing
Use when connecting observed behavior, logs, metrics, request IDs, run IDs, screenshots, traces, external dependency results, or artifacts into a runtime evidence loop.
validation-harness-design
Use when designing repository validation commands, doctor scripts, test matrices, JSON or JUnit outputs, CI gates, smoke checks, or harness command surfaces.