by mattnowdev
Thinking partner skill for AI agents — 150+ mental models, orientation detection, cognitive operations. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, GitHub Copilot.
# Add to your Claude Code skills
git clone https://github.com/mattnowdev/thinking-partnerGuides for using ai agents skills like thinking-partner.
Last scanned: 5/30/2026
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thinking-partner is an open-source ai agents skill for AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, Codex CLI, and ChatGPT, built by mattnowdev. Thinking partner skill for AI agents — 150+ mental models, orientation detection, cognitive operations. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, GitHub Copilot. It has 137 GitHub stars.
Yes. thinking-partner passed SkillsLLM's automated security scan — a dependency vulnerability audit plus prompt-injection heuristics — with no high-severity issues. You can read the full report in the Security Report section on this page.
Clone the repository with "git clone https://github.com/mattnowdev/thinking-partner" and add it to your Claude Code skills directory (see the Installation section above).
Yes. SkillsLLM lists many other AI Agents skills you can browse and compare side by side. Open the AI Agents category from the badge at the top of this page, or use the Related Skills and comparison links further down to weigh thinking-partner against similar tools.
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See comparison
A deterministic thinking partner that challenges assumptions and applies 150+ mental models to sharpen decisions, solve problems, and think more clearly.
Built on the open Agent Skills standard. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, GitHub Copilot, and any AI agent that supports the standard.
npx skills add mattnowdev/thinking-partner
Not a lecture — a sparring session. Turns your AI agent into a thinking partner that:
| Feature | This Skill | Others |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation Detection | Diagnoses 6 thinking states (GT0-GT5) with targeted interventions | Generic questioning |
| 150+ Mental Models | Full catalog organized by discipline with key questions | Handful of models |
| Cognitive Operations | 7 complementary operation pairs (Decouple/Re-couple, Hold/Resolve, etc.) | None |
| Structured Workflow | 6-step deterministic process from diagnosis to synthesis | Freeform |
| Anti-Patterns | Explicit guidance on what NOT to do | None |
Organized across 17 disciplines:
See the full catalog in skills/thinking-partner/references/model-catalog.md.
Claude Code
git clone https://github.com/mattnowdev/thinking-partner.git
cp -r thinking-partner/skills/thinking-partner ~/.claude/skills/thinking-partner
Cursor
git clone https://github.com/mattnowdev/thinking-partner.git
cp -r thinking-partner/skills/thinking-partner .cursor/skills/thinking-partner
Windsurf
git clone https://github.com/mattnowdev/thinking-partner.git
cp -r thinking-partner/skills/thinking-partner .windsurf/skills/thinking-partner
Other Agents
Copy the skills/thinking-partner/ directory (including references/) into your agent's skills directory.
MIT