BetterThink

stop coding. think first. finish one thing. then next thing.

The Problem • What It Does • Install • Supported Agents

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A skill for Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini CLI that fixes the most common way AI agents fail — not wrong answers, but wrong habits. Asking after coding. Moving on before done. Bloating memory files. Shipping desktop-only UI.

The Problem

AI coding agents are capable. They're just undisciplined.

❌ Default agent behavior Starts coding immediately. Assumes scope. Moves to the next task before the current one is verified. Updates AGENTS.md after every tiny change. Ships UI without checking mobile.

✅ BetterThink behavior Asks until 95% confident. One task at a time, verified before moving on. AGENTS.md updated only on meaningful changes. Three viewports checked every time.

Same agent. Better habits.

┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  ASSUMPTIONS BEFORE CODING     ████ none │
│  TASKS FINISHED BEFORE NEXT    ████ 100% │
│  MEMORY FILE BLOAT             ████ none │
│  UI VIEWPORT COVERAGE          ████  3/3 │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘

What It Does

Six rules. Applied before every coding task.

Rule	What it fixes
Clarify before coding	Agent asks until 95% confident — no silent assumptions on scope, stack, or edge cases
One slice at a time	Current task verified (diff read, test run, behavior checked) before the next begins
Delegate mechanical work	File search, linting, screenshots → Haiku subagent. Architecture decisions stay on the main model
Keep memory files lean	Update AGENTS.md / GEMINI.md / CLAUDE.md only on meaningful changes — new dep, new script, new folder
Screenshot-verify UI	Three viewports (375px / 768px / 1440px), every time, until all three look right
Supplementary docs on demand	Deep docs written freely, loaded only when the current task needs them

Install

Claude Code

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/betterthink
cp claude/SKILL.md ~/.claude/skills/betterthink/SKILL.md

Codex

mkdir -p ~/.codex/skills/betterthink
cp codex/SKILL.md ~/.codex/skills/betterthink/SKILL.md

Gemini CLI

mkdir -p ~/.gemini/skills/betterthink
cp gemini/SKILL.md ~/.gemini/skills/betterthink/SKILL.md

The skill activates automatically when the agent detects a coding task. No extra configuration needed.

Supported Agents

Agent	Folder	Memory file
Claude Code	claude/	CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md
OpenAI Codex	codex/	AGENTS.md
Gemini CLI	gemini/	GEMINI.md / AGENT.md

Why

Most AI coding failures aren't a capability problem. They're a discipline problem.

The agent knew how to fix the bug — it just moved on before checking if it worked. It knew you wanted a mobile-friendly layout — it just never opened DevTools at 375px. It knew AGENTS.md was supposed to stay lean — it just logged every minor refactor anyway.

BetterThink is a set of explicit guardrails written directly into the skill prompt. The agent reads them before every task and can't pretend it didn't.

License

MIT