thought-based-reasoning — Claude Code skill: step-by-step reasoning
A skill for Claude and other AI coders that gives the model a method for working through hard problems in explicit steps. Useful when a plain prompt returns the wrong answer.
npx skills add NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --skill thought-based-reasoning -a claude-codeWhat thought-based-reasoning does
This skill hands the agent a catalogue of reasoning techniques. Inside are prompt templates and a decision table: pick Zero-shot CoT when you have no exemplars, Few-shot CoT when you do, Self-Consistency when a wrong answer costs you. Least-to-Most suits problems with subproblems, Tree of Thoughts suits exploring alternatives.
ReAct covers cases needing outside information, PAL covers computation, Reflexion covers retrying after mistakes. Each technique comes with a template plus its strengths and limits. Some examples are Python code, such as drawing several answers and taking a majority vote.
Self-Consistency means several generations at a temperature above zero, so one answer costs more tokens. Majority voting only works when the final answer can be pulled out and compared. The skill addresses reasoning tasks, not your project's code.
What it helps with
- break a multi-step arithmetic problem into stages
- pick a reasoning technique that fits the task
- cut variance on decisions where errors are expensive
- make the agent check its own mistakes
- chain from simple subproblems to the hard one
Example prompts for the agent
- Work through this problem step by step using the thought-based-reasoning skill
- Pick the right CoT technique for this task and tell me why
- Generate several answers and return the most common one
How to install thought-based-reasoning
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --skill thought-based-reasoning -a claude-code2Manually: put the files in place
~/.claude/skills/thought-based-reasoning/SKILL.mdCopy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/thought-based-reasoning/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --skill thought-based-reasoning -a codex2Manually: put the files in place
.agents/skills/thought-based-reasoning/SKILL.mdFor all projects use ~/.agents/skills/
1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --skill thought-based-reasoning -a cursor2Manually: put the files in place
.cursor/skills/thought-based-reasoning/SKILL.mdCursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/
1GitHub CLI
gh skill install NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit thought-based-reasoning2Manually: put the files in place
.github/skills/thought-based-reasoning/SKILL.md1Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --skill thought-based-reasoning -a gemini-cli2Platform CLI
gemini skills install https://github.com/NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --path skills/thought-based-reasoningManually: put the files in place
.devin/skills/thought-based-reasoning/SKILL.mdThe legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works
Skills CLI (Vercel)
npx skills add NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --skill thought-based-reasoning -a opencodeClaude.ai
Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to install skills in Claude Code: five ways
Questions about thought-based-reasoning
How do I install thought-based-reasoning in Claude Code?
Run npx skills add NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit --skill thought-based-reasoning -a claude-code. The skill then sits at ~/.claude/skills/thought-based-reasoning/SKILL.md.
What does thought-based-reasoning do?
It supplies templates and selection rules for step-by-step reasoning techniques, from Zero-shot CoT through Tree of Thoughts and Reflexion.
Why does Self-Consistency cost more?
It needs several outputs at a temperature above zero and a comparison between them, so a single answer uses more requests and tokens than one pass.
