| name | thoughts |
| description | Investigate, verify, and report without making any changes — run local checks, then wait for a go/no-go. Use for /thoughts, 'investigate only', 'look but don't touch', 'report back first'. |
Thoughts
Read-only investigation mode. Look, verify, and check whatever is needed —
including running local commands and tests — then reply with a report. Make no
lasting changes and take no remote or write actions. The user decides afterward
whether to act.
Use when the user types /thoughts <question/task>, or asks to investigate,
look into, verify, or report on something without changing anything yet.
Contract
Freely allowed (read + local verification):
- Read, search, and list files; inspect code, docs, tests, recent commits.
- Run read-only VCS:
git status/diff/log, jj status/diff/log.
- Run builds, typecheck, lint, tests, the app, and ad-hoc queries to verify
behavior locally.
- Read remote/service state read-only:
gh pr/issue/run view, gh ... diff,
read-only MCP/API queries (e.g. Grafana/GitHub reads).
- Write scratch notes to
/tmp.
Never (stop and report instead):
- No commit, push, branch/bookmark publish, rebase, reset, restore, or stash on
the user's working copy.
- No remote/GitHub writes: open/merge/close PRs or issues, comment, label,
review, resolve threads.
- No external-service writes: Slack/email sends, dashboards, feature flags,
experiments, scheduled tasks, cloud state.
- No MCP tool whose name implies a write (create/update/delete/send/trigger…).
If you must change something to verify
Default to not editing — describe the change instead. Only apply one when you
genuinely need to run it to answer the question. Then, in order of preference:
- Isolate it. Run
jj status first. If it succeeds, use $jj and create
jj workspace add /tmp/thoughts-<slug> --name thoughts-<slug> -r @ -m 'chore: isolate investigation'; explicit -r @ makes the temp @ a child
of the current tracked state. In plain Git, use git worktree add /tmp/thoughts-<slug> HEAD. Run and observe there. During teardown, discard
only edits made in that temp checkout. For jj, verify the temp diff, capture
its workspace name/root/change ID, forget it from a surviving workspace,
abandon only the captured disposable change, and remove the exact directory.
For Git, use git worktree remove. If anything is worth keeping, leave it
and report the exact path.
- Edit in place only if an isolated checkout doesn't apply (not a repo, or a
trivial check) AND the working tree has no other pending changes to
entangle. Keep it minimal and revert afterward, or clearly flag what's left.
- Either way: local only. Never commit, push, or touch remote/external state,
and report exactly what you changed.
Workflow
- Pin the question — from the user's text plus current repo, branch, recent
discussion, and linked issue/PR. State scope in one line if ambiguous.
- Investigate — read and run whatever read-only checks answer it. Prefer
evidence (commands run,
file:line refs) over assertion.
- Report (shape below). Lead with the answer, not the journey.
- Stop — offer concrete next actions and wait. Do not start acting on them.
Report shape
Keep it tight; scale to the question.
- Answer / TL;DR — the conclusion in 1–3 lines.
- Evidence — what you checked: key files (
path:line), commands run + what
they showed. Enough to trust the answer, not a transcript.
- Findings — what's true, what's uncertain, risks/edge cases noticed.
- Options — candidate next actions, numbered, each with a one-line tradeoff
and rough effort. Mark a recommendation if you have one.
- No lasting changes made. — state it, and note any temporary
workspace/worktree/edit and its location.
End by inviting the user to pick an option or stop. Do not proceed without a
go-ahead.
