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 skills add ysskrishna/ai-agent-skills --skill critical-thinkinggit clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ysskrishna/ai-agent-skillsWrote 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/ysskrishna/ai-agent-skills/critical-thinking)<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/ysskrishna/ai-agent-skills/critical-thinking"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/ysskrishna/ai-agent-skills/critical-thinking/github.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>Or the 80×15 button, for a site that already has a row of RSS and ATOM ones. Only the verdict fits; the numbers stay here.
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/ysskrishna/ai-agent-skills/critical-thinking"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/ysskrishna/ai-agent-skills/critical-thinking.svg" alt="Reviewed on agentmods" width="80" 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 | $0.00151 | $0.01279 |
| Opus 5 | $0.00076 | $0.00639 |
| Sonnet 5 | $0.00030 | $0.00256 |
| Haiku 4.5 | $0.00015 | $0.00128 |
Grade A, and why
critical-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 11d 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 — 99 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.
Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is disciplined inquiry that keeps description separate from evaluation: surface assumptions, weigh evidence, test logic, consider alternatives, then state a proportionate conclusion. If the conventional view is well-supported, say so — this is inquiry, not contrarianism by default.
How to run it with this skill: one phase per clearly headed section, always in this order: Clarify → Information → Assumptions → Reasoning → Alternatives → Conclusion. Always include Conclusion unless the user explicitly stops the whole review early.
Setup (run before starting)
In one short block:
- Focus — the specific claim, proposal, or question under review
- Pass — Clarify → Information → Assumptions → Reasoning → Alternatives → Conclusion (fixed sequence; state this line once in the setup block so the user sees the path)
If essential context is missing, ask at most 3 questions in one message, then proceed. Note any remaining gaps or working guesses in plain language (no bracket tags in Setup).
The Phases
Clarify
Restate the target in one precise sentence. Separate factual vs normative claims. Name success criteria if a decision is involved.
Information
What evidence exists? Each bullet starts with [CITED] or [MISSING]:
[CITED]— a traceable basis (user text, repo, doc, link, study, etc.); in the same bullet, name the basis and one line on strength or limits (no extra strength tags).[MISSING]— no traceable basis yet for that point, or evidence was requested but not available.
Assumptions
List tacit premises. For each: Assumption: … — If false: …
When the Focus mixes is and should, surface value / normative premises too (e.g. Value premise: … — If rejected: …) alongside factual assumptions where it clarifies the chain.
Reasoning
Trace the argument chain. Flag leaps, circular patterns, correlation vs causation, and missing steps. No new factual assertions here — only structure. If a premise is needed but was never established in Information, do not assert it as true; label it as an ungrounded premise (structural gap only). When values and evidence both do work in the chain, show which links depend on which.
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.
- 11d ago First seen · 99 lines · 151 tokens per session scan A 3cbfbe081105
critical-thinking is a skill published in the GitHub repository ysskrishna/ai-agent-skills (8 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 151 tokens to every session and 1,279 once invoked, about $0.0008 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
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course-fit-check
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explain
Explains selected or visible content in plain language, including the core idea, jargon, and background, while researching further when the page falls short and staying evidence-backed. Use when the user says "explain this", "what does this mean", "simplify", "break this down", "ELI5", or "help me understand" about…
paper-reader
Explains academic papers, abstracts, PDFs, and technical articles by laying out their method, findings, limitations, and implications. Use when the user says "explain this paper", "summarize this study", "read this paper", "break down this research", or asks what a paper or abstract means.
study-plan
Creates a staged learning plan from a topic, course page, or documentation set with goals, practice tasks, and checkpoints. Use when the user wants a "study plan", "learning roadmap", "curriculum", "syllabus", "learning path", or asks "how do I learn X" or "help me learn X in N weeks".
term-explainer
Finds the technical terms, acronyms, and domain phrases on the current page and defines each in plain language, with why it matters in this context. Use when the user says "explain the jargon", "define these terms", "what does X mean here", "build a glossary", or asks about acronyms, abbreviations, or unfamiliar…