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Agent skill

Thinking Kepner Tregoe

by tjboudreaux in tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills

A skill your agent uses when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Thinking Kepner Tregoe

skills CLI
$ npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-kepner-tregoe -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-kepner-tregoe --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/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe .claude/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe && 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
thinking-kepner-tregoe
GitHub stars
1.6k
Token cost
~910 tokens
SKILL.md length
476 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
26
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

A skill your agent uses when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison.

  • Works in 7 steps: Choose the mode. Use Problem Analysis… → Frame the target. For a deviation,… → Problem Analysis — build IS/IS-NOT. For… → …
  • A selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use, When NOT to Use, Procedure and Output, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Thinking Kepner Tregoe is an agent skill from tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills. Use when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison.

Its SKILL.md is about 910 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: 28 eval-informed mental models and critical-thinking skills for Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Cursor, and other Agent Skills-compatible tools. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • A selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis
  • A consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison

Example prompts

  • “/thinking-kepner-tregoe”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Choose the mode. Use Problem Analysis for a deviation from expected behavior; use Decision Analysis for a choice among options. State the…
  2. Frame the target. For a deviation, record object, defect, location, time, extent, and impact. For a choice, state the decision…
  3. Problem Analysis — build IS/IS-NOT. For WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and EXTENT, record IS, closest comparable IS-NOT, and the distinction unique to…
  4. Problem Analysis — difference-test causes. Generate candidates from distinctions and changes. A candidate survives only if it explains…
  5. Decision Analysis — screen and score. Define pass/fail MUSTs and weighted WANTs (1–10 importance) before scoring. Eliminate options that…
  6. Decision Analysis — test downside and sensitivity. For leading options, list adverse consequences with probability × impact and identify…
  7. Decide or expose the gap. Return the verified cause or highest-ranked acceptable option, the evidence/score behind it, residual risk, and…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7b8fece. 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

Thinking Kepner Tregoe loads about 910 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 45 tokens; SKILL.md has 476 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~45
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~910

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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills at commit 7b8fece, republished under its MIT licence (© tjboudreaux). 476 words, ~910 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
thinking-kepner-tregoe
description
Use when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison.
disable-model-invocation
true

Kepner-Tregoe Analysis

Core rule: Diagnose deviations by testing causes against both IS and IS-NOT. Compare consequential choices by screening MUSTs, weighting WANTs, and exposing adverse consequences before selecting.

When to Use

  • A defect affects some objects, places, times, or cohorts but not comparable others.
  • Several candidate causes remain and the contrast boundary can discriminate them.
  • A consequential option choice has explicit non-negotiables, competing objectives, and risks that should be compared consistently.

When NOT to Use

  • A uniform failure has no meaningful IS-NOT contrast, or the cause is already confirmed.
  • One cheap observation settles the cause or one option plainly dominates every requirement.
  • The criteria cannot be made operational; clarify them before assigning weights.
  • The task is forward failure discovery for a planned change rather than diagnosis or option selection.

Procedure

  1. Choose the mode. Use Problem Analysis for a deviation from expected behavior; use Decision Analysis for a choice among options. State the target and do not mix scores with causal evidence.
  2. Frame the target. For a deviation, record object, defect, location, time, extent, and impact. For a choice, state the decision, alternatives, constraints, and deadline.
  3. Problem Analysis — build IS/IS-NOT. For WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and EXTENT, record IS, closest comparable IS-NOT, and the distinction unique to the IS side. List changes near the first occurrence.
  4. Problem Analysis — difference-test causes. Generate candidates from distinctions and changes. A candidate survives only if it explains both IS and IS-NOT. Run the cheapest discriminating check; stop when one verified cause explains the full boundary.
  5. Decision Analysis — screen and score. Define pass/fail MUSTs and weighted WANTs (1–10 importance) before scoring. Eliminate options that fail any MUST; score survivors against each WANT and calculate weighted totals using the same scale.
  6. Decision Analysis — test downside and sensitivity. For leading options, list adverse consequences with probability × impact and identify assumptions or weight changes that would reverse the ranking. Do not let a high total conceal a ruinous failure mode.
  7. Decide or expose the gap. Return the verified cause or highest-ranked acceptable option, the evidence/score behind it, residual risk, and next verification. If no cause verifies or no option passes MUSTs, return open/none rather than force a winner.
Show full SKILL.md (111 more words)Show less

Output

Return one mode-specific decision artifact:

  • Problem Analysis: problem statement; IS/IS-NOT matrix with distinctions; nearby changes; candidate-vs-boundary tests; confirmed cause or next discriminating check.
  • Decision Analysis: decision statement; alternatives; MUST screen; weighted WANT matrix; adverse-consequence table; sensitivity/reversal conditions; selected option or none.

Verification

  • Falsify/stop: reject a cause that cannot explain both sides of the boundary. Reject a choice if it fails a MUST, depends on inconsistent scoring, or loses under a plausible weight/risk change that was hidden.
  • Over-application guard: skip the full matrix for an obvious cause, trivial choice, or one-shot check. Stop when the cause verifies or the option is robust enough for the stated stakes; extra rows are ceremony.

© tjboudreaux, 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/thinking-kepner-tregoe of tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7b8fece

Compare with similar skills

Thinking Kepner Tregoe 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.

Thinking Kepner Tregoe compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Thinking Kepner Tregoe this skilltjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills1.6k—~910Automated safety check: PassMIT
Select Namethedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist74k—~451Automated safety check: PassMIT
Engine Selectionsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k1 repos~1.2kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Think Tankdavila7/claude-code-templates33k—~3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Orch Fix Defectaffaan-m/ECC277k1 repos~414Automated safety check: PassMIT
Product Thinkingmillionco/react-doctor15k—~3.1kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Questions about Thinking Kepner Tregoe

What does Thinking Kepner Tregoe do?

A skill your agent uses when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison. Thinking Kepner Tregoe is an agent skill from tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills. Use when a selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis or a consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison.

When should I use Thinking Kepner Tregoe?

Thinking Kepner Tregoe fits situations like: A selective defect needs IS/IS-NOT difference analysis; A consequential option choice needs must/want weighting and adverse-consequence comparison.

How do I install Thinking Kepner Tregoe in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Thinking Kepner Tregoe in Codex?

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

Can I use Thinking Kepner Tregoe 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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-kepner-tregoe -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe, .gemini/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe, .github/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe and .opencode/skills/thinking-kepner-tregoe in your project.

What does Thinking Kepner Tregoe need to run?

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

Does Thinking Kepner Tregoe 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 Thinking Kepner Tregoe 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 Thinking Kepner Tregoe use?

Thinking Kepner Tregoe 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 Thinking Kepner Tregoe use?

About 910 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.6k 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 Thinking Kepner Tregoe?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Thinking Kepner Tregoe: Select Name (thedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist, 74k stars), Engine Selection (sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, 47k stars), Think Tank (davila7/claude-code-templates, 33k stars) and Orch Fix Defect (affaan-m/ECC, 277k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Thinking Kepner Tregoe?

tjboudreaux (a GitHub user) maintains it in tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills, which has 1,613 GitHub stars. The repository holds 26 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 7, 2026.

Source: tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.