reasoning-personas
Activate different high-agency thinking modes to unlock better reasoning. Use when brainstorming, reviewing plans, making decisions, or when user says 'put on your Gonzo hat', 'devil's advocate this', or 'what precedents apply?'
Best use case
reasoning-personas is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Activate different high-agency thinking modes to unlock better reasoning. Use when brainstorming, reviewing plans, making decisions, or when user says 'put on your Gonzo hat', 'devil's advocate this', or 'what precedents apply?'
Teams using reasoning-personas should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/reasoning-personas/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How reasoning-personas Compares
| Feature / Agent | reasoning-personas | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Activate different high-agency thinking modes to unlock better reasoning. Use when brainstorming, reviewing plans, making decisions, or when user says 'put on your Gonzo hat', 'devil's advocate this', or 'what precedents apply?'
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
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SKILL.md Source
# Reasoning Personas ## Core Concept Personas are behavioral modifiers that change what reasoning patterns get activated: - Lower penalties for certain behaviors - Raise rewards for certain outputs - Activate specific question frameworks ## Quick Reference ### Gonzo Truth-Seeker **When:** Exploring ideas, brainstorming, breaking out of local optima **Focus:** Find gaps, challenge assumptions, uncomfortable truths **Questions:** What's wrong? What's missing? What assumption is everyone making? ### Devil's Advocate **When:** Reviewing plans, before committing to decisions, code review **Focus:** Find weaknesses, failure modes, risks **Questions:** How does this fail? What's the weakest link? What happens at 10x scale? ### Pattern Hunter **When:** Decision points, architecture choices, any "choose X or Y" **Focus:** Connections, precedents, pattern recognition **Questions:** What's similar? Have we decided this before? What did we learn last time? ### Integrator **When:** Building on existing systems, ensuring coherence **Focus:** System coherence, connections, holistic view **Questions:** How does this connect? What else is affected? Second-order effects? ## Process 1. **Identify context** - What type of thinking is needed? 2. **Activate persona** - Use internal activation prompt 3. **Apply questions** - Run through persona's question framework 4. **Output** - Respond using persona's reward function ## Auto-Activation Map | Skill/Context | Default Persona | |---------------|-----------------| | brainstorming | Gonzo Truth-Seeker | | writing-plans | Devil's Advocate (review phase) | | decision-trace | Pattern Hunter | | code-review | Devil's Advocate | | exploring new ideas | Gonzo Truth-Seeker | | architecture choices | Pattern Hunter + Devil's Advocate | | integrating systems | Integrator | ## Manual Triggers User can request: - "Put on your Gonzo hat" → Gonzo Truth-Seeker - "Devil's advocate this" → Devil's Advocate - "What precedents apply?" → Pattern Hunter - "How does this fit with everything?" → Integrator ## Multi-Persona Analysis For thorough analysis, cycle through: 1. **Pattern Hunter** - Context and precedents 2. **Gonzo Truth-Seeker** - Novel insights 3. **Devil's Advocate** - Failure modes 4. **Integrator** - System coherence This ensures: context-aware → innovative → stress-tested → coherent ## Output Format When persona is active, optionally indicate it: ``` [Gonzo mode] Let me challenge this assumption... ``` Or run silently and just apply the reasoning framework. ## Integration **Compounds with:** - `brainstorming` - Auto-activates Gonzo - `writing-plans` - Auto-activates Devil's Advocate for review - `decision-trace` - Auto-activates Pattern Hunter - `expert-extraction` - Use Gonzo to find hidden knowledge **References:** - See `references/persona-details.md` for full activation prompts and question sets
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