Thinking First Principles

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 9a5557e61022 · 28 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publishertjboudreaux GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source foldertjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/skills/thinking-first-principlesThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceMITAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict9a5557e61022A new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 81 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: When a constraint is treated as fixed, separate physics from convention, keep only independently supported primitives, and rebuild the simplest solution that satisfies real constraints.

---
name: thinking-first-principles
description: When a constraint is treated as fixed, separate physics from convention, keep only independently supported primitives, and rebuild the simplest solution that satisfies real constraints.
disable-model-invocation: true
---

# First Principles

Strip assumed constraints to independently supported primitives, then rebuild. Escape analogy when convention fails or looks artificially expensive.

## When to Use

- A constraint is treated as fixed ("too expensive," "impossible," "always done this way") without independent support.
- Convention or analogy has failed, stalled, or only yields weak incremental variants.
- Greenfield design where industry defaults may smuggle false requirements.
- Cost or feasibility claims rest on pricing, precedent, or authority rather than physics, math, or measured need.

## When NOT to Use

- The constraint is verified physics, hard regulation, or measured capacity → accept it and optimize within it.
- A proven standard library, protocol, or known-good pattern already fits → use it; do not re-derive.
- Time-critical incidents → act on the most likely cause first; reserve first-principles rebuild for post-incident redesign.
- Incremental polish of a working system with no false-constraint signal → skip.

## Procedure

1. **State the problem and claimed constraints.** List every limit treated as fixed (cost, scale, stack, process, "must use X").
2. **Classify each constraint.** Tag as `physics/math`, `regulation/contract`, `measured fact`, or `convention/analogy/authority`. Keep only the first three as binding unless evidence upgrades a convention.
3. **Decompose to primitives.** Required inputs, conservation/complexity bounds, true non-negotiables. Demand independent support (measurement, derivation, primary requirement)—not vendor pricing or competitor precedent.
4. **Discard unsupported assumptions.** For each convention tag, state a falsifier. Drop or renegotiate anything lacking support.
5. **Rebuild from remaining primitives only.** Simplest solution that satisfies binding constraints and ignores artificial ones. Prefer commodity inputs and fewer moving parts over analogy.
6. **Validate and stop.** Check against real physics, contracts, and measured needs. Define the cheapest kill test. Stop when a coherent rebuild plus discriminating validation exists, or when only verified hard constraints remain.

## Output

Emit a first-principles rebuild:

- `claimed_constraints`: list with classification tags
- `primitives`: independently supported truths only
- `discarded_assumptions`: conventions dropped and why
- `rebuild`: solution derived only from primitives
- `binding_residuals`: real limits that remain
- `kill_test`: cheapest check that would falsify the rebuild

## Verification

- **Independence check:** every primitive must cite measurement, derivation, or primary requirement—not precedent alone.
- **No smuggled analogy:** if the rebuild still depends on "how others do it" without a primitive, strip it.
- **Constraint honesty:** verified physics/regulation must remain; do not wish them away.
- **Over-application guard:** if a standard solution is already optimal under verified constraints, do not rebuild for novelty.
- **Stop:** one decompose → classify → rebuild → kill-test pass; do not recurse without new evidence.

Excerpt, first 3,353 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

git clone https://github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills
git -C cc-thinking-skills checkout 9a5557e61022

Works in

1. 2026-10-28
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 9a5557e61022

Questions about Thinking First Principles

• github.com/tjboudreaux/cc-thinking-skills/tree/main/skills/think — the audited source at commit 9a5557e61022 and every finding aboveObserved · 28 Oct 2026

Spotted something wrong? Report a correction · Methodology