# unslop-reasoning

This skill trims robotic patterns from AI reasoning, including repeated problem summaries, excessive doubt, and bloated plans. Use it to revise an agent's visible reasoning trace.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 164
- Author: MohamedAbdallah-14
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop/tree/HEAD/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-19
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/unslop-reasoning

## What it does

unslop-reasoning targets reasoning traces rather than the prose of a finished response. It identifies repeated restatements of the task, plans padded with unnecessary caveats, excessive breakdowns of simple fixes, and circular comparisons that never settle on a choice. It also catches unsupported swings between certainty and doubt.

The skill covers six recurring patterns and rewrites affected passages while retaining concrete details such as filenames, line numbers, numeric values, and error messages. When the revised trace is under 30% of its original length, it flags that most of the original was hedging. A genuine change of mind based on new evidence should remain in the rewrite.

Use it on visible reasoning, agent task breakdowns, or extended-thinking output. It does not replace `/unslop`, which targets ordinary response prose. For Claude Code, install it with the provided `npx skills` command.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop --skill unslop-reasoning -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/unslop-reasoning/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop --skill unslop-reasoning -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop --skill unslop-reasoning -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop unslop-reasoning
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop --skill unslop-reasoning -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop --path skills/unslop-reasoning
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop --skill unslop-reasoning -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop/tree/HEAD/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- Remove repeated descriptions of the task from an agent's reasoning
- Condense a plan for a small code fix
- Break out of circular comparisons between possible solutions
- Prioritize likely causes based on log evidence
- Retain a justified change of direction after a new finding

## Example prompts
- Use `/unslop-reasoning` to make this visible reasoning sound less robotic.
- Trim repeated points and unnecessary hesitation from this debugging trace while keeping filenames, line numbers, and errors intact.
- Rewrite the agent's plan for this bug without removing changes of mind supported by new evidence.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 0fa362135851854b.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 0fa362135851854b
```text
---
name: unslop-reasoning
description: >
  Strip AI-slop patterns from reasoning traces (chain-of-thought, extended
  thinking, agent decomposition) — not final prose. Reasoning text has its
  own slop catalog that regular unslop doesn't target: over-explaining the
  question, over-hedging, over-decomposing trivial problems into 6-bullet
  substeps, infinite-loop rationalization.
  Trigger: /unslop-reasoning, "clean up my reasoning", "fix this chain of
  thought", "this CoT sounds robotic". Applies to reasoning output; does
  not override regular /unslop mode.
---

# unslop-reasoning

## Purpose

The regular unslop skill targets prose. Chain-of-thought output has a
separate failure mode — AI-slop patterns that appear in *reasoning*, not in
the final answer. These patterns have no equivalent in the prose catalog
because nobody hand-edits a thinking trace. The research in docs/research/
calls this gap out explicitly: "no AI-slop reasoning pattern catalog" (Cat
19). This skill fills it.

Apply when the user pastes a reasoning trace — an internal chain of
thought, an agent's decomposition, or extended-thinking output — and asks
for it to read less robotic.

## Signals of reasoning slop

Six canonical patterns, each with an example and a tighter rewrite.

### 1. Restating the question

**AI:**

> The user is asking how to fix the auth middleware bug. They want me to
> identify the root cause and propose a fix.

**Human:**

> Auth middleware bug. Find cause, propose fix.

The model often spends a paragraph paraphrasing the input back to itself.
Humans don't. They read, maybe underline, and move.

### 2. Over-hedging the plan

**AI:**

> There are several factors to consider when approaching this problem.
> First, we should think about the scope. It's also important to consider
> the context. There are many potential approaches.

**Human:**

> Three options: A, B, C. A is fastest. B is safest. Picking A unless
> something looks wrong.

Hedging in reasoning inflates the trace without narrowing the problem.
Real thinking commits to a direction early, then revises.

### 3. Over-decomposing

**AI (for a two-line fix):**

> Step 1: Identify the file.
> Step 2: Find the function.
> Step 3: Read the function.
> Step 4: Identify the bug.
> Step 5: Plan the change.
> Step 6: Write the change.
> Step 7: Verify the change.

**Human:**

> Open auth.py. Token expiry uses `<`, should be `<=`. Fix line 42.

Trivial problems don't need a 7-step decomposition. A flat "here's the
answer" is more honest than a ceremonial march.

### 4. Infinite-loop rationalization

**AI:**
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 0fa362135851854b

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First 2604 of 5989 bytes. © MohamedAbdallah-14 · MIT · https://github.com/MohamedAbdallah-14/unslop/tree/HEAD/skills/unslop-reasoning/SKILL.md

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---
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