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Agent skill

Scamper

by danium in 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.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Scamper

skills CLI
$ npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill scamper -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install danium/lateral-thinking scamper --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/danium/lateral-thinking.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/scamper .claude/skills/scamper && 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
scamper
GitHub stars
318
Token cost
~1.3k tokens
SKILL.md length
734 words
Files
3 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
10
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

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.

  • Works in 5 steps: Confirm the target → Run all seven operations in order → Collect the hits into concrete variants → …
  • There is already one working idea and the need is disciplined variations of it
  • SKILL.md covers What this technique does, Workflow, Honesty mechanics and What NOT to do, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Scamper is an agent skill from 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. Use when there is already one working idea and the need is disciplined variations of it, e.g. "give me variations", "riff on this", "scamper", "what can we substitute or combine", "remix this feature". Do NOT use for analytical work like debugging, code review, or implementation tasks, and not for blank-page…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.3k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 3 other files, including reference files (for example `references/question-bank.md` and `references/worked-example.md`).

It sits in Development, covering Brainstorming. 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

  • There is already one working idea and the need is disciplined variations of it
  • Analytical work like debugging
  • Implementation tasks
  • Not for blank-page ideation (needs an existing idea as input)

Example prompts

  • “give me variations”
  • “riff on this”
  • “scamper”
  • “/scamper”

Workflow steps

5 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

  1. Confirm the target
  2. Run all seven operations in order
  3. Collect the hits into concrete variants
  4. Meta-pattern scan
  5. Honest ranking with next-move offers

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

    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

Scamper loads about 1.3k tokens when it runs, and up to ~5.7k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 141 tokens; SKILL.md has 734 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~141
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.3k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~5.7k

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). 734 words, ~1,309 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/scamper/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
scamper
description
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. Use when there is already one working idea and the need is disciplined variations of it, e.g. "give me variations", "riff on this", "scamper", "what can we substitute or combine", "remix this feature". Do NOT use for analytical work like debugging, code review, or implementation tasks, and not for blank-page ideation (needs an existing idea as input).

SCAMPER

What this technique does

Take one existing thing — a feature, a product, a workflow — and push it through seven transformation lenses in fixed order. Each lens asks a different question: what could you swap out, what could you fuse it with, what could you borrow, what could you exaggerate or shrink, what else it could do, what could you cut, what could you flip. The value is coverage: the checklist forces you past the two or three variations you would have thought of unaided and into the ones you would have skipped. It is a divergent tool for an idea that already exists, not a way to invent one from nothing.

Source: Bob Eberle, SCAMPER: Games for Imagination Development (1971), building on Alex Osborn's checklist of idea-spurring questions.

Workflow

Step 1: Confirm the target

A valid target is an existing idea, artifact, or process: a shipped feature, a signup flow, a pricing model, a ritual your team runs. SCAMPER transforms something that already works; it cannot operate on a blank page. If the user brings no starting idea — "help me think of a product" — refuse and point them to a generative technique (a random-stimulus or free-association method) that manufactures ideas from nothing. This one needs raw material.

If the target is unclear, ask one focused question — "What's the existing idea, and what part of it is fixed versus open to change?" — then proceed.

Refuse requests to perform analytical work — "debug this", "review this code", "implement this change" — and suggest an analytical approach instead. But redesigning or reinventing such a process is a valid creative target: "reinvent our code-review ritual" is in scope; "review this PR" is not.

Step 2: Run all seven operations in order

Work the lenses in sequence — Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify/Magnify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Reverse/Rearrange. For each one, pull 3-4 pointed questions from references/question-bank.md and answer only the ones that actually bite against this target. Ignore the rest; the bank is a menu, not a form.

Zero hits on an operation is normal and expected. When a lens yields nothing real, mark it empty and move on — do not manufacture a variant to fill the slot.

Step 3: Collect the hits into concrete variants

Gather the questions that landed into named variants. Each variant states three things plainly: what changes, what it costs, and what it risks. A variant with no cost and no risk is usually a variant you have not thought through.

Show full SKILL.md (324 more words)Show less
Step 4: Meta-pattern scan

Look back across the run: which operations kept producing hits, and which came up dry? Concentrated production is a signal. If Substitute and Eliminate both kept biting, the idea is probably carrying weight it does not need or resting on a swappable assumption — that is where it is soft. Name the pattern explicitly; it is often more useful than any single variant.

Step 5: Honest ranking with next-move offers

Rank the variants by real promise, say which ones are weak and why, and stop there. Offer next moves — go deeper on one variant, rerun a single operation harder, switch to a convergent technique to narrow, or stop — and let the user pick. Never push the user to commit.

Honesty mechanics

Operations with no bite are shown empty, not padded. Write the emptiness plainly, for example:

Eliminate: nothing left to remove — this idea is already minimal. Moving on.

A SCAMPER run where all seven operations "work" is a tell that the output is manufactured. On a real target, expect 3-5 of the seven to bite and the rest to come up empty. Showing the empty ones is what proves the run was genuine rather than retrofitted.

What NOT to do

  • Don't answer every question in the bank. Pick the ones with teeth against this specific target; skip the rest without comment.
  • Don't disguise the same variant under two operations. If "let users trigger it manually" shows up under both Substitute and Reverse, it is one idea, not two. Count it once.
  • Don't SCAMPER a vague target. Sharpen it first. Transforming a fuzzy idea produces seven fuzzy variants.
  • Don't pad empty operations. An honestly empty lens is a result, not a gap to fill.
  • Don't push the user toward a decision. The technique is divergent; convergence belongs to the user.

References

© 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

SKILL.md and 2 other files (references) in skills/scamper of danium/lateral-thinking.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/question-bank.md
  • references/worked-example.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bde713d

Compare with similar skills

Scamper 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.

Scamper compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Scamper this skilldanium/lateral-thinking318—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Trellis Session Insightmindfold-ai/Trellis15k4 repos~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Audit Flowzebbern/claude-code-guide4.6k—~4.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Context FieldsNeoVertex1/context-field147—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Odoo Workflowunclecatvn/agent-skills143—~4.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Grounding A Designandrew-blake/melcloudhome142—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Categories

Questions about Scamper

What does Scamper do?

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. Scamper is an agent skill from 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.

When should I use Scamper?

Scamper fits situations like: there is already one working idea and the need is disciplined variations of it; analytical work like debugging; implementation tasks; not for blank-page ideation (needs an existing idea as input).

How do I install Scamper in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill scamper -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/scamper in danium/lateral-thinking) into .claude/skills/scamper in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Scamper in Codex?

Run `npx skills add danium/lateral-thinking --skill scamper -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/scamper in danium/lateral-thinking) into .agents/skills/scamper in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Scamper 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 scamper -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/scamper, .gemini/skills/scamper, .github/skills/scamper and .opencode/skills/scamper in your project.

What does Scamper need to run?

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

Does Scamper 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 Scamper 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 Scamper use?

Scamper 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 Scamper use?

About 1.3k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 4.4k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Scamper?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Scamper: Trellis Session Insight (mindfold-ai/Trellis, 15k stars), Audit Flow (zebbern/claude-code-guide, 4.6k stars), Context Fields (NeoVertex1/context-field, 147 stars) and Odoo Workflow (unclecatvn/agent-skills, 143 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Scamper?

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.