Agent skill

Proactive Explorer

by cnfjlhj in cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook

A skill your agent uses when missing context may be recoverable from local code, files, logs, or environment evidence before asking the user or making assumptions.

No licenceAuto-check passed

Install Proactive Explorer

skills CLI
$ npx skills add cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook --skill proactive-explorer -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook proactive-explorer --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/full/proactive-explorer .claude/skills/proactive-explorer && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
proactive-explorer
GitHub stars
453
Token cost
~662 tokens
SKILL.md length
369 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
17
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
None found

At a glance

A skill your agent uses when missing context may be recoverable from local code, files, logs, or environment evidence before asking the user or making assumptions.

  • Works in 5 steps: Read local rules and nearby docs such as… → Search filenames, code, tests, and logs… → Inspect runtime state with shell… → …
  • Missing context may be recoverable from local code
  • SKILL.md covers Overview, Rules, When to Use and Exploration Order, plus 3 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Proactive Explorer is an agent skill from cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook. Use when missing context may be recoverable from local code, files, logs, or environment evidence before asking the user or making assumptions.

Its SKILL.md is about 660 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

The repository describes itself as: Practical AI collaboration playbook for research, writing, reading, and coding: article, prompts, agent rules, and reusable skills.

When your agent uses it

  • Missing context may be recoverable from local code
  • Environment evidence before asking the user
  • Making assumptions

Example prompts

  • “/proactive-explorer”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Read local rules and nearby docs such as AGENTS.md, project docs, and relevant config.
  2. Search filenames, code, tests, and logs with rg and targeted reads.
  3. Inspect runtime state with shell commands when needed.
  4. Use web search only when the missing fact is outside the workspace.
  5. Ask the user only for the remaining gap.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit b3ee0d6. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Proactive Explorer loads about 662 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 41 tokens; SKILL.md has 369 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~41
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~662

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 369 words (~662 tokens).

“Use this skill to reduce avoidable user questions.”

— opening of SKILL.md by cnfjlhj
name
proactive-explorer

Read the full SKILL.md on GitHub

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/full/proactive-explorer of cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit b3ee0d6

Compare with similar skills

Proactive Explorer next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Proactive Explorer compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Proactive Explorer this skillcnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook453—~662Automated safety check: PassNone
Explorersupabase/supabase111k—~845Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Agent Scout Explorerruvnet/ruflo74k2 repos~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Caveman Repository ExplorerJuliusBrussee/caveman111k1 repos~492Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Exploreparcadei/Continuous-Claude-v33.9k1 repos~2.9kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Inbox ExplorationPostHog/posthog40k—~7.7kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Questions about Proactive Explorer

What does Proactive Explorer do?

A skill your agent uses when missing context may be recoverable from local code, files, logs, or environment evidence before asking the user or making assumptions. Proactive Explorer is an agent skill from cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook. Use when missing context may be recoverable from local code, files, logs, or environment evidence before asking the user or making assumptions.

When should I use Proactive Explorer?

Proactive Explorer fits situations like: missing context may be recoverable from local code; environment evidence before asking the user; making assumptions.

How do I install Proactive Explorer in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook --skill proactive-explorer -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/full/proactive-explorer in cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook) into .claude/skills/proactive-explorer in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Proactive Explorer in Codex?

Run `npx skills add cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook --skill proactive-explorer -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/full/proactive-explorer in cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook) into .agents/skills/proactive-explorer in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Proactive Explorer in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook --skill proactive-explorer -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/proactive-explorer, .gemini/skills/proactive-explorer, .github/skills/proactive-explorer and .opencode/skills/proactive-explorer in your project.

What does Proactive Explorer need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Proactive Explorer is instructions for the agent only.

Does Proactive Explorer access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Proactive Explorer safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Proactive Explorer use?

No licence was found for Proactive Explorer or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.

How many tokens does Proactive Explorer use?

About 662 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.6k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Proactive Explorer?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Proactive Explorer: Explorer (supabase/supabase, 111k stars), Agent Scout Explorer (ruvnet/ruflo, 74k stars), Caveman Repository Explorer (JuliusBrussee/caveman, 111k stars) and Explore (parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3, 3.9k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Proactive Explorer?

cnfjlhj (a GitHub user) maintains it in cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook, which has 453 GitHub stars. The repository holds 17 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 14, 2026.

Source: cnfjlhj/ai-collab-playbook on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.