Idea Refinement
addyosmani/agent-skills
Guides a conversation that takes a vague idea through divergent and convergent thinking and ends in a markdown one-pager covering scope and assumptions.
Applies the philosophical frameworks of Plato (ancient Greek philosopher, Theory of Forms, founder of the Academy) to structural, ethical, and epistemological problems.
MITAuto-check passed
Install Plato
$ npx skills add K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install K-Dense-AI/mimeographs plato --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/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/mimeographs/plato .claude/skills/plato && 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 "plato" agent skill from https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs/tree/main/mimeographs/plato into .claude/skills/plato/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "plato", 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/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs/tree/main/mimeographs/platoType 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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install K-Dense-AI/mimeographs plato --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/mimeographs/plato .agents/skills/plato && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "plato" agent skill from https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs/tree/main/mimeographs/plato into .agents/skills/plato/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "plato", 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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install K-Dense-AI/mimeographs plato --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/mimeographs/plato .cursor/skills/plato && 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 "plato" agent skill from https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs/tree/main/mimeographs/plato into .cursor/skills/plato/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "plato", 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/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.git --path mimeographs/plato--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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install K-Dense-AI/mimeographs plato --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/mimeographs/plato .gemini/skills/plato && 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 "plato" agent skill from https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs/tree/main/mimeographs/plato into .gemini/skills/plato/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "plato", 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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs platoInstalls 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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/mimeographs/plato .github/skills/plato && 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 "plato" agent skill from https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs/tree/main/mimeographs/plato into .github/skills/plato/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "plato", 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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install K-Dense-AI/mimeographs plato --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/mimeographs/plato .opencode/skills/plato && 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 "plato" agent skill from https://github.com/K-Dense-AI/mimeographs/tree/main/mimeographs/plato into .opencode/skills/plato/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "plato", 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
plato- GitHub stars
- 129
- Token cost
- ~1.6k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 837 words
- Files
- 72 (incl. references)
- Skills in repo
- 60
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- MIT
At a glance
Applies the philosophical frameworks of Plato (ancient Greek philosopher, Theory of Forms, founder of the Academy) to structural, ethical, and epistemological problems.
- Works in 3 steps: Ask for the foundational definition of… → Test their proposed definition using… → Expose the flaws to induce a state of…
- The user is grappling with organizational design
- SKILL.md covers Core principles, How Plato reasons, Applying the frameworks and Anti-patterns he pushes against, plus 1 more section
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Plato is an agent skill from K-Dense-AI/mimeographs. Applies the philosophical frameworks of Plato (ancient Greek philosopher, Theory of Forms, founder of the Academy) to structural, ethical, and epistemological problems. Use this skill whenever the user is grappling with organizational design, leadership ethics, defining abstract concepts, aligning incentives, or uncovering the root essence of a problem. Trigger this when discussing justice, governance, the nature of knowledge, structural harmony, or when a user is trapped by superficial metrics (shadows) and…
Its SKILL.md is about 1.6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 74 other files, including reference files (for example `AGENTS.md`, `_workspace/agents_output.e584bd6c.json` and `_workspace/clustered_corpus.e584bd6c.json`).
The repository describes itself as: Ready-to-use agent skills that clone the thinking of founders, philosophers, and scientists into your agent. Generated with K-Dense-AI/mimeo. The licence is MIT.
When your agent uses it
- The user is grappling with organizational design
- Leadership ethics
- Defining abstract concepts
- Aligning incentives
Example prompts
- “Use the plato skill to apply the philosophical frameworks of Plato (ancient Greek philosopher, Theory of Forms, founder of the Academy) to…”
- “/plato”
Workflow steps
3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
- Ask for the foundational definition of the concept they are relying on ("What is X?").
- Test their proposed definition using analogies or logical extensions to see if it leads to contradictions or is too broad/narrow.
- Expose the flaws to induce a state of perplexity (aporia), clearing away false confidence so genuine inquiry can begin.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit a38f5fc. 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
Plato loads about 1.6k tokens when it runs, and up to ~5.3k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 168 tokens; SKILL.md has 837 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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs at commit a38f5fc, republished under its MIT licence (© K-Dense-AI). 837 words, ~1,601 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/plato/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 71 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.- name
- plato
- description
- Applies the philosophical frameworks of Plato (ancient Greek philosopher, Theory of Forms, founder of the Academy) to structural, ethical, and epistemological problems. Use this skill whenever the user is grappling with organizational design, leadership ethics, defining abstract concepts, aligning incentives, or uncovering the root essence of a problem. Trigger this when discussing justice, governance, the nature of knowledge, structural harmony, or when a user is trapped by superficial metrics (shadows) and needs to find fundamental truths (Forms). Do not wait for the user to name Plato; proactively apply his dialectical reasoning to cut through illusions.
Thinking like Plato
Plato's philosophy is fundamentally about transcending superficial appearances to grasp eternal, unchanging realities. He views the world through a lens of structural harmony, where justice and effectiveness emerge only when every part of a system—whether a human soul or a city-state—performs its natural function without overstepping. His approach is deeply dialectical, stripping away unexamined assumptions and mere enumerations of examples to uncover the true essence (the "Form") of a concept.
His reasoning is characterized by a profound skepticism of sensory data, popular opinion, and democratic consensus. Instead, he relies on rigorous logical division, analogies between the micro and macro, and the belief that true leadership is an act of service grounded in philosophical wisdom. Reach for this skill whenever you're helping a user design an organization, define a core metric or value, navigate leadership ethics, or when they are stuck treating the symptoms of a problem rather than its root cause.
Core principles
- Rule by Philosopher-Kings: Leadership must be entrusted only to those with a rigorous dedication to truth and no desire for power, because those who seek power are easily corrupted by it.
- Justice as Harmony and Specialization: Systems thrive when individuals are assigned to the single task they are naturally most fit for, because intermeddling destroys structural integrity.
- Wrongdoing is Ignorance: Treat ethical failures as cognitive errors rather than deliberate malice, because everyone inherently desires what is good but may miscalculate.
- True Knowledge Requires Explanatory Structure: Do not accept isolated facts as knowledge; beliefs must be interconnected and tied down by an account of their underlying causes to be reliable.
- Art and Leadership Serve the Subject: Evaluate the legitimacy of any craft or leadership role by whether it benefits the subject being ruled or served, not the practitioner.
For detailed rationale and quotes, see references/principles.md.
How Plato reasons
Plato reasons by moving from the visible to the intelligible. When presented with a problem, he does not ask "What are some examples of this?" but rather "What is the essential nature of this thing?" He dismisses sensory evidence and popular consensus as mere shadows, constantly pushing for the underlying abstract reality.
He frequently employs macro/micro lenses to solve complex problems. If a concept is too difficult to analyze at the individual level, he scales it up using the City-Soul Analogy to observe it in a larger system, assuming the structure remains identical. He also relies heavily on the Allegory of the Cave to diagnose when people are trapped by false paradigms, recognizing that the journey to truth requires painful reorientation away from comfortable illusions. For a full catalog of his cognitive tools, see references/mental-models.md.
Applying the frameworks
Socratic Cross-Examination (Elenchus)
Use when a user is operating on unexamined assumptions or vague definitions.
- Ask for the foundational definition of the concept they are relying on ("What is X?").
- Test their proposed definition using analogies or logical extensions to see if it leads to contradictions or is too broad/narrow.
- Expose the flaws to induce a state of perplexity (aporia), clearing away false confidence so genuine inquiry can begin.
Show full SKILL.md (324 more words)Show less
The Method of Collection and Division
Use when categorizing complex domains or trying to find the precise definition of a target.
- Collect all instances of a generic category that share common characteristics.
- Divide them into specific kinds based on natural differences, ensuring you "carve reality at the joints."
- Continue subdividing until the target concept cannot be further subdivided, isolating its true essence.
For the full catalog of frameworks, including the Tripartite Class Structure, see references/frameworks.md.
Anti-patterns he pushes against
- Defining by Enumeration: Attempting to define a concept by listing examples rather than identifying the single invariant feature common to all cases.
- Trusting the Senses over Reason: Relying on the changing, imperfect material world (metrics, anecdotes, appearances) instead of abstract, logical deduction.
- Indiscriminate Equality: Treating all desires, roles, or individuals as equally valid for any task, which flattens necessary distinctions and leads to systemic chaos.
- Rulers Serving Themselves: Tolerating leaders who use their position for personal wealth or honor; true leadership is a craft aimed solely at the benefit of the ruled.
- Class Mobility and Intermeddling: Allowing individuals or parts of a system to perform roles they are not naturally suited for, which destroys harmony.
How to use this skill in conversation
When the user is facing organizational design issues, ethical dilemmas, or superficial thinking, surface Plato's models by name. If a user is struggling to define their company's core value, apply the Method of Collection and Division to help them carve reality at the joints. If they are dealing with a misaligned team, introduce the City-Soul Analogy or the principle of Justice as Harmony and Specialization to diagnose where parts of the system are intermeddling.
Cite the concepts directly (e.g., "Plato would view this through the lens of the Allegory of the Cave, suggesting that these metrics are just shadows..."). Do not pretend to be Plato or use archaic language; simply apply his rigorous, essence-seeking dialectic to the user's modern context.
© K-Dense-AI, 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 71 other files (references) in mimeographs/plato of K-Dense-AI/mimeographs.
- SKILL.md
- AGENTS.md
- _workspace/agents_output.e584bd6c.json
- _workspace/clustered_corpus.e584bd6c.json
- _workspace/discovery/books.json
- _workspace/discovery/essays.json
- _workspace/discovery/frameworks.json
- _workspace/discovery/interviews.json
- _workspace/discovery/letters.json
- _workspace/discovery/papers.json
- _workspace/discovery/podcasts.json
- _workspace/discovery/ranked_sources.e584bd6c.json
- _workspace/discovery/talks.json
- _workspace/distilled/src_002.e584bd6c.json
- _workspace/distilled/src_004.e584bd6c.json
- _workspace/distilled/src_005.e584bd6c.json
- _workspace/distilled/src_006.e584bd6c.json
- _workspace/distilled/src_012.e584bd6c.json
- … and 54 more
Open the folder on GitHubat commit a38f5fc
Compare with similar skills
Plato 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plato this skillK-Dense-AI/mimeographs | 129 | — | ~1.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Idea Refinementaddyosmani/agent-skills | 103k | 6 repos | ~2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| HTML PPT Studiolewislulu/html-ppt-skill | 8.6k | 4 repos | ~4.7k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Agent Browserquran/quran.com-frontend-next | 1.9k | 40 repos | ~3.3k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| Brag Launch Videolatent-spaces/brag | 14k | 1 repos | ~2.3k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Perform Tasktelegramdesktop/tdesktop | 33k | 2 repos | ~3k | Automated safety check: Pass | GPL-3.0 |
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Questions about Plato
What does Plato do?
Applies the philosophical frameworks of Plato (ancient Greek philosopher, Theory of Forms, founder of the Academy) to structural, ethical, and epistemological problems. Plato is an agent skill from K-Dense-AI/mimeographs. Applies the philosophical frameworks of Plato (ancient Greek philosopher, Theory of Forms, founder of the Academy) to structural, ethical, and epistemological problems.
When should I use Plato?
Plato fits situations like: the user is grappling with organizational design; leadership ethics; defining abstract concepts; aligning incentives.
How do I install Plato in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (mimeographs/plato in K-Dense-AI/mimeographs) into .claude/skills/plato in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Plato in Codex?
Run `npx skills add K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (mimeographs/plato in K-Dense-AI/mimeographs) into .agents/skills/plato in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Plato 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 K-Dense-AI/mimeographs --skill plato -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/plato, .gemini/skills/plato, .github/skills/plato and .opencode/skills/plato in your project.
What does Plato need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Plato is instructions for the agent only.
Does Plato 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 Plato 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 Plato use?
Plato 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 Plato use?
About 1.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.4k 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 3.7k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.
What are the alternatives to Plato?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Plato: Idea Refinement (addyosmani/agent-skills, 103k stars), HTML PPT Studio (lewislulu/html-ppt-skill, 8.6k stars), Agent Browser (quran/quran.com-frontend-next, 1.9k stars) and Brag Launch Video (latent-spaces/brag, 14k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Plato?
K-Dense-AI (a GitHub organization) maintains it in K-Dense-AI/mimeographs, which has 129 GitHub stars. The repository holds 60 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 18, 2026.
Source: K-Dense-AI/mimeographs on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.