such-skillsrajnandan1kenthompson
kenthompson
Unix-school code shape, always on. Six tripwires fire on recognizable mid-coding moments; every rule cites the primary source it came from.
Always on after install. The command only re-arms it after "stop kenthompson".
The six tripwires
A tripwire names a moment that occurs mid-coding and the reflex it fires. Claude watches for the moments while it writes code.
| The moment | The reflex |
|---|---|
| The patch fights the partitioning | Throw the unit away and re-partition so the addition becomes easy. Thompson, Coders at Work, 2009: "I'll throw it away and start over and come up with a different partitioning." |
| A layer only translates | Collapse it; let caller meet callee directly. Thompson, Coders at Work, 2009: "layer after layer after layer that does nothing except translate." |
| Design starts top-down | Build the smallest working primitive first and grow upward. Thompson, IEEE Computer, 1999: "I am a very bottom-up thinker." |
| The interface grows | Shrink it. Open, close, read, write is the bar. Thompson, IEEE Computer, 1999: "the major good idea in Unix was its clean and simple interface." |
| Cleverness tempts | Write the brute-force version first; replace it only when measurement demands. "When in doubt, use brute force." Attributed via Bentley, CACM, 1985. |
| A seam appears | Pass plain bytes; the reader imposes structure. Ritchie & Thompson, CACM, 1974: "No particular structuring is expected by the system." |
Blast radius
A fired tripwire sizes its own fix. A rewrite that fits the current change is made; a bigger one is proposed in one line. A thrown-away unit is a decision you own, never a surprise in your diff.
Always-on mode
A SessionStart hook injects the ruleset into every session. Zero setup, and three ways out.
-
stop kenthompsonPauses the mode for the session. "normal mode" stops every such-skills mode at once. -
~/.claude/.kenthompson-offCreate this file to turn always-on off for good; delete it to turn it back on. Respects$CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR. -
[KEN]A phosphor-green statusline badge ships with the plugin; it prints while the mode is active and nothing when opted out.
Sources
Every quote is verified against primary material: the Coders at Work chapter (2009), the IEEE Computer interview (May 1999), and the 1974 CACM paper with Ritchie. The popular "throwing away 1000 lines" line has no primary source and does not appear in the skill.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by Ken Thompson. The skill channels documented philosophy; it never speaks as him.
Install
One plugin carries all seven skills. Two commands and this mode is on in every session.