Work Issue
joesaby/astro-mermaid
End-to-end workflow for resolving a GitHub issue in astro-mermaid — triages complexity, then runs brainstorm → TDD → implement → docs/spec → code review at the right depth.
Lateral thinking toolkit router — when you're stuck, going in circles, need fresh ideas, or standard brainstorming keeps producing predictable results, this diagnoses the symptom and applies the…
Install Lateral
$ npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install danium/lateral-thinking lateral --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/lateral .claude/skills/lateral && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "lateral" agent skill from https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking/tree/main/skills/lateral into .claude/skills/lateral/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "lateral", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking/tree/main/skills/lateralType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install danium/lateral-thinking lateral --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/lateral .agents/skills/lateral && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "lateral" agent skill from https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking/tree/main/skills/lateral into .agents/skills/lateral/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "lateral", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install danium/lateral-thinking lateral --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/lateral .cursor/skills/lateral && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "lateral" agent skill from https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking/tree/main/skills/lateral into .cursor/skills/lateral/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "lateral", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking.git --path skills/lateral--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install danium/lateral-thinking lateral --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/lateral .gemini/skills/lateral && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "lateral" agent skill from https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking/tree/main/skills/lateral into .gemini/skills/lateral/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "lateral", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install danium/lateral-thinking lateralInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/lateral .github/skills/lateral && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "lateral" agent skill from https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking/tree/main/skills/lateral into .github/skills/lateral/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "lateral", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install danium/lateral-thinking lateral --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/lateral .opencode/skills/lateral && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "lateral" agent skill from https://github.com/danium/lateral-thinking/tree/main/skills/lateral into .opencode/skills/lateral/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "lateral", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
lateral- GitHub stars
- 318
- Token cost
- ~1.4k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 742 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 10
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Lateral thinking toolkit router — when you're stuck, going in circles, need fresh ideas, or standard brainstorming keeps producing predictable results, this diagnoses the symptom and applies the…
- Works in 4 steps: Diagnose. Match the user's symptom to… → Pick exactly one technique. Never route… → Read ..//SKILL.md — relative to this… → …
- Include lateral thinking
- SKILL.md covers What this does, Decision table, Routing procedure and If the technique file is missing, plus 2 more sections
- Calls npx
What it does
Lateral is an agent skill from danium/lateral-thinking. Lateral thinking toolkit router — when you're stuck, going in circles, need fresh ideas, or standard brainstorming keeps producing predictable results, this diagnoses the symptom and applies the right technique from the toolkit (random-stimulus, provocation, inversion, concept-fan, analogy, scamper, six-hats, worst-idea). Triggers include "lateral thinking", "I'm stuck on a creative problem", "we're going in circles", "need fresh ideas", "try a different angle", "break out of the box", "ideas all feel the same"…
Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Development, covering Brainstorming and Code review. The repository describes itself as: Lateral thinking skills for AI agents - 8 techniques + a router. de Bono for your coding agent. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- Include lateral thinking
- Im stuck on a creative problem
- Were going in circles
- Need fresh ideas
Example prompts
- “lateral thinking”
- “m stuck on a creative problem”
- “re going in circles”
- “/lateral”
Requirements
- Node.js
Workflow steps
4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Diagnose. Match the user's symptom to the table. If the symptom is unclear, ask exactly one focused question — do not interrogate.
- Pick exactly one technique. Never route to a second technique in the same pass. If another looks promising, offer it as a next move once…
- Read ..//SKILL.md — relative to this file — and follow it inline. Do not invoke it as a separate skill; read the file and execute its…
- Refuse analytical work politely. Debugging, code review, and implementation are not creative targets. Suggest an analytical approach…
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bde713d. 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
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
npx
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.
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
Lateral loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 159 tokens; SKILL.md has 742 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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
The full file from danium/lateral-thinking at commit bde713d, republished under its MIT licence (© danium). 742 words, ~1,416 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/lateral/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- lateral
- description
- Lateral thinking toolkit router — when you're stuck, going in circles, need fresh ideas, or standard brainstorming keeps producing predictable results, this diagnoses the symptom and applies the right technique from the toolkit (random-stimulus, provocation, inversion, concept-fan, analogy, scamper, six-hats, worst-idea). Triggers include "lateral thinking", "I'm stuck on a creative problem", "we're going in circles", "need fresh ideas", "try a different angle", "break out of the box", "ideas all feel the same", "predictable brainstorm". Do NOT use for analytical work like debugging, code review, or implementation tasks.
Lateral
What this does
Being stuck has shapes. Ideas that all feel the same is a different problem from a constraint that feels unbreakable, which is different again from suspecting you are solving the wrong problem. Each shape has a technique that fits it.
This skill diagnoses the symptom, picks exactly one technique, and runs it inline. It is a router, not a technique of its own.
Decision table
| Symptom | Technique |
|---|---|
| Ideas all feel the same; brainstorm output is predictable | random-stimulus |
| A constraint or rule feels unbreakable | provocation |
| Requirements assume things nobody has questioned | inversion |
| We might be solving the wrong problem | concept-fan |
| The solution works but feels derivative | analogy |
| We have one idea and need variations | scamper |
| A decision is being made too fast / everyone agrees | six-hats |
| Everything feels timid, safe, cautious | worst-idea |
Routing procedure
- Diagnose. Match the user's symptom to the table. If the symptom is unclear, ask exactly one focused question — do not interrogate.
- Pick exactly one technique. Never route to a second technique in the same pass. If another looks promising, offer it as a next move once the first has finished.
- Read
../<technique>/SKILL.md— relative to this file — and follow it inline. Do not invoke it as a separate skill; read the file and execute its workflow yourself, including its honesty mechanics. - Refuse analytical work politely. Debugging, code review, and implementation are not creative targets. Suggest an analytical approach instead. Redesigning or ideating about such a process is a valid creative target: "reinvent our code-review ritual" is in scope; "review this PR" is not.
If the target itself is unclear, the chosen technique's own Step 1 will ask for it. Do not ask twice.
If the technique file is missing
A partial install may leave this router without its siblings. Do not fail — run a degraded session from the condensed core loop below, then tell the user:
This is the condensed version of the technique. The full skill carries reference material — stimulus pools, question banks, worked examples — that makes the session substantially better. To install the complete toolkit:
npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking
Show full SKILL.md (392 more words)Show less
Condensed core loops
random-stimulus — Pick 8–12 random unrelated things across at least five categories. List each one's properties. Force a connection to the target. Keep an idea only if you could not have reached it without the stimulus; abandon the rest visibly. Scan hits and abandonments for a meta-pattern.
provocation — State 4–6 deliberately wrong assertions about the problem: escape a rule, reverse a relationship, exaggerate a quantity, distort the sequence, assert a wishful fantasy as fact. Extract movement from each — the principle inside it, what would happen moment to moment, what differs from today. Shape live threads into ideas.
inversion — List 5–8 assumptions behind the current approach. Flip each into its strongest plausible opposite. Ask where each flip is already true, and who profits from it today. Develop the survivors; mark the dead flips dead.
concept-fan — Ask "what is this a way of doing?" twice to climb to broader concepts. At each level, fan out 3–4 alternative concepts that serve the level above. Drop back down to concrete implementations for the promising ones. Prune branches that are the original wearing a coat of paint.
analogy — State the problem's structure in one sentence: actors, flows, bottleneck. Pick 3–5 structurally similar domains distant from the target. Map the roles. Transfer what each domain does about the bottleneck — mechanisms, not aesthetics.
scamper — Run the existing idea through Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put-to-other-use, Eliminate, Reverse. Three to four pointed questions each; answer only the ones that bite. Empty operations are normal — show them empty. Collect the hits into concrete variants.
six-hats — Take the decision through six unblended passes: White (facts and missing data), Red (gut feelings, unjustified), Black (risks tied to mechanisms), Yellow (benefits tied to mechanisms), Green (alternatives, one abandoning the premise), Blue (synthesis with a confidence level).
worst-idea — Design 5–8 genuinely terrible solutions, each plausible enough that someone has shipped it. Name the mechanism that makes each one bad. Invert the mechanisms — not the ideas — into features.
What NOT to do
- Don't run two techniques in one pass. Offer the second as a next move.
- Don't skip the chosen technique's honesty mechanics. The visible abandonments are the point; a session where everything works is a session that was faked.
- Don't push the user toward a decision. These techniques diverge. Convergence belongs to the user.
- Don't route analytical work anywhere. Refuse it and say why.
© danium, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in skills/lateral of danium/lateral-thinking.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit bde713d
Compare with similar skills
Lateral 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lateral this skilldanium/lateral-thinking | 318 | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Work Issuejoesaby/astro-mermaid | 123 | — | ~891 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Explorexwtro0tk1t-cloud/harness | 265 | — | ~1.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Seek Verdictsd0xdev/sd0x-harness | 192 | — | ~1.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Trellis Session Insightmindfold-ai/Trellis | 15k | 4 repos | ~1.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | AGPL-3.0 | |
| GitHub Review Iterationprisma/orm | 48k | — | ~2.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 |
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Explore
xwtro0tk1t-cloud/harness
Graph-driven project understanding using code-review-graph (CRG).
Seek Verdict
sd0xdev/sd0x-harness
Independent second-opinion verification for any finding. An agent skill from sd0xdev/sd0x-harness.
Trellis Session Insight
mindfold-ai/Trellis
Reach into past AI conversation history through the trellis mem CLI.
- Official
GitHub Review Iteration
prisma/orm
Runs a loop on a GitHub pull request: fetch review state, triage comments into actions, implement them and resolve threads, repeating until nothing actionable is left.
Cherry Studio PR Review
CherryHQ/cherry-studio
Reviews Cherry Studio branches, pull requests, commits, files and docs against the project's own architecture, naming, API-boundary and UI rules, report-only by default.
More from danium/lateral-thinking
All 10 skills in this repoAnalogy
danium/lateral-thinking
Forced Analogy / Structural Transplant — map the problem onto a structurally similar system from a distant domain (immune system, air-traffic control, restaurant kitchen, jazz ensemble) and transfer…
Concept Fan
danium/lateral-thinking
Edward de Bono's Concept Fan — climb from the current solution to the concept it serves by asking "what is this a way of doing?", then fan out alternative concepts and concrete implementations for…
Inversion
danium/lateral-thinking
Assumption Inversion — list the assumptions behind the current approach and flip each one, then ask where the flipped version could actually be true.
Provocation
danium/lateral-thinking
Edward de Bono's Provocation (Po) technique — state something deliberately wrong or absurd about the problem, then extract useful "movement" from it instead of judging it.
Random Stimulus
danium/lateral-thinking
Edward de Bono's Random Stimulus technique — force-fit a random unrelated object, place, or phenomenon onto a creative target to break familiar association patterns.
Scamper
danium/lateral-thinking
SCAMPER (Bob Eberle) — run one existing idea, product, or process through seven systematic transformations - Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify/Magnify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Reverse/Rearrange.
Related
Categories
Questions about Lateral
What does Lateral do?
Lateral thinking toolkit router — when you're stuck, going in circles, need fresh ideas, or standard brainstorming keeps producing predictable results, this diagnoses the symptom and applies the…. Lateral is an agent skill from danium/lateral-thinking. Lateral thinking toolkit router — when you're stuck, going in circles, need fresh ideas, or standard brainstorming keeps producing predictable results, this diagnoses the symptom and applies the right technique from the toolkit (random-stimulus, provocation, inversion, concept-fan, analogy, scamper, six-hats, worst-idea).
When should I use Lateral?
Lateral fits situations like: include lateral thinking; im stuck on a creative problem; were going in circles; need fresh ideas.
How do I install Lateral in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/lateral in danium/lateral-thinking) into .claude/skills/lateral in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Lateral in Codex?
Run `npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/lateral in danium/lateral-thinking) into .agents/skills/lateral in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Lateral 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 danium/lateral-thinking --skill lateral -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/lateral, .gemini/skills/lateral, .github/skills/lateral and .opencode/skills/lateral in your project.
What does Lateral need to run?
Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Lateral needs the command-line tools its instructions call (npx). Our summary lists: Node.js.
Does Lateral access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Lateral 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 Lateral use?
Lateral is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Lateral use?
About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.7k 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 Lateral?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Lateral: Work Issue (joesaby/astro-mermaid, 123 stars), Explore (xwtro0tk1t-cloud/harness, 265 stars), Seek Verdict (sd0xdev/sd0x-harness, 192 stars) and Trellis Session Insight (mindfold-ai/Trellis, 15k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Lateral?
danium (a GitHub user) maintains it in danium/lateral-thinking, which has 318 GitHub stars. The repository holds 10 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 13, 2026.
Source: danium/lateral-thinking on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.