When a change has effects past the immediate fix—incentives, scale, feedback—trace consequence chains with timing and probability before committing.
$ npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-second-order --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/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-second-order .claude/skills/thinking-second-order && 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 "thinking-second-order" agent skill from https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/thinking-second-order into .claude/skills/thinking-second-order/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "thinking-second-order", 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/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/thinking-second-orderType 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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-second-order --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-second-order .agents/skills/thinking-second-order && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "thinking-second-order" agent skill from https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/thinking-second-order into .agents/skills/thinking-second-order/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "thinking-second-order", 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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-second-order --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-second-order .cursor/skills/thinking-second-order && 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 "thinking-second-order" agent skill from https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/thinking-second-order into .cursor/skills/thinking-second-order/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "thinking-second-order", 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/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git --path skills/thinking-second-order--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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-second-order --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-second-order .gemini/skills/thinking-second-order && 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 "thinking-second-order" agent skill from https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/thinking-second-order into .gemini/skills/thinking-second-order/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "thinking-second-order", 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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-second-orderInstalls 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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-second-order .github/skills/thinking-second-order && 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 "thinking-second-order" agent skill from https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/thinking-second-order into .github/skills/thinking-second-order/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "thinking-second-order", 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 tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills thinking-second-order --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/thinking-second-order .opencode/skills/thinking-second-order && 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 "thinking-second-order" agent skill from https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/thinking-second-order into .opencode/skills/thinking-second-order/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "thinking-second-order", 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.
thinking-second-orderWhen a change has effects past the immediate fix—incentives, scale, feedback—trace consequence chains with timing and probability before committing.
Thinking Second Order is an agent skill from tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills. When a change has effects past the immediate fix—incentives, scale, feedback—trace consequence chains with timing and probability before committing.
Its SKILL.md is about 750 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.
5 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 7b8fece. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
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.
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.
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Thinking Second Order loads about 747 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 43 tokens; SKILL.md has 343 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.
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.
The full file from tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills at commit 7b8fece, republished under its MIT licence (© tjboudreaux). 343 words, ~747 tokens.
.claude/skills/thinking-second-order/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).Do not stop at the intended first effect. Trace what happens next across actors, time, and feedback until the chain stops changing the decision.
Stop when further "and then what?" no longer changes the decision, or the remaining chain is pure speculation without mechanism.
decision: <action>
first_order: <intended immediate effect>
chain:
- order: 2
effect: <what>
actors: <who>
p: high|med|low
when: immediate|next_cycle|at_scale
feedback: none|reinforce|balance
- order: 3
...
scale_if_universal: <one sentence or n/a>
revised_decision: <same | modified action | no-go>
mitigations: <guards for kept risks>© tjboudreaux, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Just SKILL.md in skills/thinking-second-order of tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 7b8fece
Thinking Second Order 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thinking Second Order this skilltjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills | 1.6k | — | ~747 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Performing Second Order SQL Injectionmukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills | 34k | — | ~2.3k | Automated safety check: Warn | Apache-2.0 | |
| Second Order Odesparcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3 | 3.9k | 1 repos | ~830 | Automated safety check: Notes | MIT | |
| Add Effectremotion-dev/remotion | 63k | — | ~2.8k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Effect V4ComposioHQ/composio | 30k | — | ~1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| CSS Orderthedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist | 74k | — | ~404 | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills
Detect and exploit second-order SQL injection vulnerabilities where malicious input is stored in a database and later executed in an unsafe SQL query during a different application operation.
parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3
Problem-solving strategies for second order odes in odes pdes
remotion-dev/remotion
Add a new effect to @remotion/effects, including implementation, package exports, docs, demos, preview images, Remotion skill updates, formatting, and builds.
ComposioHQ/composio
Write, review, or upgrade Effect v4 code in the Composio CLI, cli-keyring, and json-schema-to-effect-schema packages, all pinned exactly to effect@4.0.0-rc.117 — Context.Service and explicit layers…
thedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist
A skill your agent uses when reviewing stylesheets, component styles, and responsive behavior related to Order CSS files correctly.
thedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist
A skill your agent uses when reviewing rendered HTML, interactive components, or design-system patterns related to Ensure logical focus order.
tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills
A skill your agent uses when search or investigation could run forever.
tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills
A skill your agent uses when a specific claim may lack grounding.
tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills
A skill your agent uses when longevity of a non-perishable option matters.
tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills
A skill your agent uses when the reflex is to add a feature, layer, or process.
tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills
When the right response mode is unclear, classify the cause-effect domain first; decompose disorder.
tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills
When a fault is localized and the proximate cause is known but the systemic root is not, chain evidence-linked whys with a counterfactual stop and a countermeasure.
When a change has effects past the immediate fix—incentives, scale, feedback—trace consequence chains with timing and probability before committing. Thinking Second Order is an agent skill from tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills. When a change has effects past the immediate fix—incentives, scale, feedback—trace consequence chains with timing and probability before committing.
Run `npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/thinking-second-order in tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills) into .claude/skills/thinking-second-order in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
Run `npx skills add tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills --skill thinking-second-order -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/thinking-second-order in tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills) into .agents/skills/thinking-second-order in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
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-second-order -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-second-order, .gemini/skills/thinking-second-order, .github/skills/thinking-second-order and .opencode/skills/thinking-second-order in your project.
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Thinking Second Order is instructions for the agent only.
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.
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.
Thinking Second Order is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
About 747 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Thinking Second Order: Performing Second Order SQL Injection (mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills, 34k stars), Second Order Odes (parcadei/Continuous-Claude-v3, 3.9k stars), Add Effect (remotion-dev/remotion, 63k stars) and Effect V4 (ComposioHQ/composio, 30k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
tjboudreaux (a GitHub user) maintains it in tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills, which has 1,612 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.
