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Agent skill

Thinking Map Territory

by tjboudreaux in tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills

When a claim, doc, test, metric, or assumption conflicts with observed behavior, stop theorizing from the map and verify the live code or data; let territory overrule.

MITAuto-check passed

Install Thinking Map Territory

skills CLI
$ npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-map-territory -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-map-territory --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-map-territory .claude/skills/thinking-map-territory && 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-map-territory
GitHub stars
1.6k
Token cost
~831 tokens
SKILL.md length
415 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
26
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

When a claim, doc, test, metric, or assumption conflicts with observed behavior, stop theorizing from the map and verify the live code or data; let territory overrule.

  • Works in 6 steps: Name the map. State the exact… → Name the territory check. Specify the… → Verify source and freshness. Confirm… → …
  • 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 Map Territory is an agent skill from tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills. When a claim, doc, test, metric, or assumption conflicts with observed behavior, stop theorizing from the map and verify the live code or data; let territory overrule.

Its SKILL.md is about 830 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.

Example prompts

  • “/thinking-map-territory”

Workflow steps

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

  1. Name the map. State the exact representation trusted: which doc, test, metric, diagram, comment, or assumption. Quote the claim, not a…
  2. Name the territory check. Specify the observation that would prove or disprove the claim: code path, runtime value, query, reproduction…
  3. Verify source and freshness. Confirm origin of the map (author, generator, last update) and whether it could be stale relative to deploy…
  4. Observe the territory. Read the real code path, run or instrument it, query real data, or reproduce the behavior. Do not predict from…
  5. Record the delta and update. If territory contradicts the map, territory wins for shipped behavior. Document the gap, revise the model…
  6. Stop when settled. Once the claim is confirmed or overturned with a concrete observation, stop re-checking the same path.

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 Map Territory loads about 831 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 48 tokens; SKILL.md has 415 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~48
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~831

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). 415 words, ~831 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/thinking-map-territory/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
thinking-map-territory
description
When a claim, doc, test, metric, or assumption conflicts with observed behavior, stop theorizing from the map and verify the live code or data; let territory overrule.
disable-model-invocation
true

Map Territory

Docs, tests, diagrams, metrics, comments, and mental models are maps. Running code and actual data are the territory. When they disagree, verify territory and update the model — never force reality to match the description.

When to Use

  • Observed behavior contradicts a doc, test expectation, diagram, comment, dashboard, or prior assumption.
  • A claim about the system rests on a secondary source rather than current code or data.
  • Tests pass but production or manual behavior is wrong.
  • You are about to theorize why something happens before inspecting what happens.
  • A decision depends on whether a model, schema, or metric is still current.

When NOT to Use

  • The map is the artifact you are asked to edit (doc, diagram, spec) — that artifact is the task territory.
  • Same path already verified this session — reuse that observation.
  • Map is authoritative and generative (codegen types, derived schema) with no claimed drift.
  • The mismatch cannot change the decision — note and move on.
  • Competing causal hypotheses after territory is confirmed — switch to scientific-method.
  • Security exploit construction — use red-team; this skill only settles model-versus-observation.

Procedure

  1. Name the map. State the exact representation trusted: which doc, test, metric, diagram, comment, or assumption. Quote the claim, not a paraphrase.
  2. Name the territory check. Specify the observation that would prove or disprove the claim: code path, runtime value, query, reproduction, recent change, or live metric.
  3. Verify source and freshness. Confirm origin of the map (author, generator, last update) and whether it could be stale relative to deploy, config, or data change. Prefer primary current sources over summaries.
  4. Observe the territory. Read the real code path, run or instrument it, query real data, or reproduce the behavior. Do not predict from signatures or names alone.
  5. Record the delta and update. If territory contradicts the map, territory wins for shipped behavior. Document the gap, revise the model, then decide the fix (code, map, or both). Note unmapped paths — likely next failure sites.
  6. Stop when settled. Once the claim is confirmed or overturned with a concrete observation, stop re-checking the same path.
Show full SKILL.md (70 more words)Show less

Output

text
Map: <claim + source + freshness>
Territory check: <what was inspected/run/queried>
Observation: <concrete result, not interpretation>
Delta: <aligned | map wrong | territory incomplete>
Updated model: <corrected understanding>
Action: <fix code | update map | no decision impact>
Uncovered: <paths no map covers>

Verification

  • Falsify if you reasoned from the map without a territory observation, trusted a stale secondary source, or forced code to match a wrong doc without checking either.
  • Stop when the contradiction is resolved or irrelevant to the decision.
  • Over-application guard: do not re-verify the whole system when editing the map, when the map is the generative source of truth, or when the gap cannot change the next action.

© 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-map-territory of tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7b8fece

Compare with similar skills

Thinking Map Territory 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 Map Territory compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Thinking Map Territory this skilltjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills1.6k—~831Automated safety check: PassMIT
Docnexu-io/open-design100k—~266Automated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Claimsruvnet/ruflo74k2 repos~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Docsremotion-dev/remotion63k—~248Automated safety check: PassCustom licence
Update Docsvercel/next.js143k—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
DocsPrefectHQ/fastmcp28k—~1kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0

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  • Thinking Five Whys Plus

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Questions about Thinking Map Territory

What does Thinking Map Territory do?

When a claim, doc, test, metric, or assumption conflicts with observed behavior, stop theorizing from the map and verify the live code or data; let territory overrule. Thinking Map Territory is an agent skill from tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills. When a claim, doc, test, metric, or assumption conflicts with observed behavior, stop theorizing from the map and verify the live code or data; let territory overrule.

How do I install Thinking Map Territory in Claude Code?

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

How do I install Thinking Map Territory in Codex?

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

Can I use Thinking Map Territory 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-map-territory -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-map-territory, .gemini/skills/thinking-map-territory, .github/skills/thinking-map-territory and .opencode/skills/thinking-map-territory in your project.

What does Thinking Map Territory need to run?

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

Does Thinking Map Territory 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 Map Territory 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 Map Territory use?

Thinking Map Territory 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 Map Territory use?

About 831 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.3k 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 Map Territory?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Thinking Map Territory: Doc (nexu-io/open-design, 100k stars), Claims (ruvnet/ruflo, 74k stars), Docs (remotion-dev/remotion, 63k stars) and Update Docs (vercel/next.js, 143k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Thinking Map Territory?

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.