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thought-based-reasoning

Use when tackling complex reasoning tasks requiring step-by-step logic, multi-step arithmetic, commonsense reasoning, symbolic manipulation, or problems where simple prompting fails - provides comprehensive guide to Chain-of-Thought and related prompting techniques (Zero-shot CoT, Self-Consistency, Tree of Thoughts, Least-to-Most, ReAct, PAL, Reflexion) with templates, decision matrices, and research-backed patterns

53

Quality

59%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

No eval scenarios have been run

SecuritybySnyk

Advisory

Suggest reviewing before use

Fix and improve this skill with Tessl

tessl review fix ./plugins/customaize-agent/skills/thought-based-reasoning/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Content

27%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

This skill reads like an academic survey paper on CoT prompting techniques rather than a concise, actionable skill file. It massively over-explains concepts Claude already understands deeply (prompting techniques, reasoning patterns) and includes unnecessary metadata like citation counts and paper references. The content would be far more effective as a brief decision matrix with technique selection criteria, linking to separate files for each technique's details.

Suggestions

Reduce the SKILL.md to a concise overview (~50-80 lines) with the decision matrix and brief 1-2 line descriptions of each technique, moving detailed templates and examples into separate referenced files (e.g., techniques/react.md, techniques/tot.md).

Remove all paper citations, citation counts, and 'How It Works' explanations — Claude already knows these techniques intimately. Focus only on the specific prompt templates and implementation patterns.

Add concrete validation criteria for each technique: how to tell if the technique is working, when to switch techniques, and what failure modes look like in practice.

Remove the 'Strengths' and 'Limitations' sections for each technique — these are well-known to Claude. Replace with a single compact comparison table if needed.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

Extremely verbose at ~500+ lines. Explains concepts Claude already knows well (what CoT is, how prompting works, paper citations, citation counts). Much of this is textbook-level information about prompting techniques that Claude is deeply familiar with. The accuracy gain percentages, paper references, and extensive explanations of 'how it works' for each technique are unnecessary padding.

1 / 3

Actionability

Provides concrete prompt templates and some Python code examples, which is good. However, much of the code is pseudocode or conceptual (e.g., the Tree of Thoughts BFS implementation references undefined functions like `generate_thoughts`, `evaluate`, `is_solved`). The templates are usable but the skill reads more like a reference guide than executable instructions.

2 / 3

Workflow Clarity

The decision matrix provides a clear flowchart for technique selection, and some techniques like Least-to-Most and Reflexion show clear multi-stage processes. However, there are no validation checkpoints or feedback loops for verifying whether a chosen technique is actually working. The 'start simple and progress' advice in Best Practices is vague without concrete criteria for when to escalate.

2 / 3

Progressive Disclosure

This is a monolithic wall of text with no references to external files. All 9 techniques are fully detailed inline, making the skill extremely long. There's no bundle structure to offload detailed technique descriptions, examples, or references. Each technique could be its own referenced file with the SKILL.md serving as a concise overview and decision guide.

1 / 3

Total

6

/

12

Passed

Description

92%

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

This is a strong description that clearly communicates both what the skill does and when to use it. It excels at listing specific techniques and trigger scenarios, making it easy for Claude to identify when this skill is relevant. The main weakness is potential overlap with other reasoning or prompt engineering skills due to the broad framing around 'complex reasoning tasks.'

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

Lists multiple specific concrete actions and techniques: Chain-of-Thought, Zero-shot CoT, Self-Consistency, Tree of Thoughts, Least-to-Most, ReAct, PAL, Reflexion, along with deliverables like templates, decision matrices, and research-backed patterns.

3 / 3

Completeness

Clearly answers both 'what' (comprehensive guide to CoT and related prompting techniques with templates, decision matrices, and patterns) and 'when' (explicitly starts with 'Use when tackling complex reasoning tasks requiring step-by-step logic, multi-step arithmetic, commonsense reasoning, symbolic manipulation, or problems where simple prompting fails').

3 / 3

Trigger Term Quality

Includes strong natural trigger terms users would say: 'complex reasoning', 'step-by-step logic', 'multi-step arithmetic', 'commonsense reasoning', 'symbolic manipulation', 'prompting fails', 'Chain-of-Thought', 'prompting techniques'. These cover a good range of how users would describe needing this skill.

3 / 3

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

While the specific prompting technique names (CoT, Tree of Thoughts, ReAct, etc.) create some distinctiveness, the broader framing around 'complex reasoning tasks' and 'prompting techniques' could overlap with general prompt engineering or reasoning skills. The domain is somewhat niche but not as clearly bounded as a file-format-specific skill.

2 / 3

Total

11

/

12

Passed

Validation

90%

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation10 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

CriteriaDescriptionResult

skill_md_line_count

SKILL.md is long (659 lines); consider splitting into references/ and linking

Warning

Total

10

/

11

Passed

Repository
NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit
Reviewed

Table of Contents

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