principle-foundational-thinking
An agent skill by cursor, from cursor/plugins. Tags: analysis, architecture, data, design, planning.
What it does
Apply before writing logic: choosing core types and data structures, sequencing scaffold-vs-feature work, asking what concurrent actors share. Get the data structures right so downstream code becomes obvious.
Install
With the skills CLI, which installs into Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents:
npx skills add cursor/plugins --skill principle-foundational-thinkingOr copy the skill folder into Claude Code's skills directory by hand (~/.claude/skills for every project, or .claude/skills inside one):
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/cursor/plugins
cp -r plugins/pstack/skills/principle-foundational-thinking ~/.claude/skills/principle-foundational-thinkingSafety box score
Grade A, minimal risk: 0 of 100 risk points, rated 2026-09-29. The grade rates what the skill and its scripts can reach on the machine of whoever installs it, across eight categories from shell execution to secrets access. How the score works.
This skill is guidance-only: it contains design advice about data structures, sequencing work, and concurrency, with no scripts, network calls, or file-modifying commands. The main risk is just workflow influence—pushing the agent toward a particular coding style and order of operations—but it does not itself execute code or touch external systems.
| Category | Level | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Code & shell execution | 0 (none) | `SKILL.md` is plain markdown with no shell commands, code evaluation, or bundled scripts. |
| Network access | 0 (none) | There are no downloads, API calls, or remote hosts mentioned in the skill text. |
| Filesystem reach | 0 (none) | The file only gives process advice like `Subtraction comes before scaffolding`; it does not read, write, or delete files. |
| Secrets & credentials | 0 (none) | It does not ask for tokens, passwords, `.env` files, keychains, or pasted credentials. |
| Privilege & persistence | 0 (none) | There is no sudo, global install, service registration, or shell/OS configuration change implied. |
| Instruction hijack surface | 0 (none) | No prompt-injection patterns appear; the text does not tell the agent to ignore rules, hide actions, or follow fetched instructions. |
| Irreversible actions | 0 (none) | It does not deploy, post, merge, pay, book, or delete; it only advises how to think about code structure. |
| Transparency | 0 (none) | All shipped content is readable markdown; there are no binaries, encoded blobs, or unpinned downloads. |
Before installing
- Read `SKILL.md` to confirm it is just architectural guidance and not paired with hidden scripts.
- If you want a skill that changes files or runs tools, verify this repo path contains no companion executables.
- Treat it as a style/process aid only; it should not require any special permissions or credentials.
Rated 2026-09-29 by an automated review of 1 file from the skill's repository.
Source
- Repository
- cursor/plugins (all skills from this repository)
- Path
- pstack/skills/principle-foundational-thinking/SKILL.md
- Branch
- main
- Collection
- cursor
- Updated
- 2026-09-23
Related skills
- architect — Sketch types, signatures, and module structure before code, then stay in the loop while implementation fills in.
- principle-exhaust-the-design-space — Apply when facing a novel UI interaction or architectural decision with no precedent in the codebase.
- principle-model-the-domain — Apply when writing stateful logic, or when code branches a lot or repeats a shape assumption across files.
- principle-redesign-from-first-principles — Apply when integrating a new requirement into an existing design.
- domain-modeling — Build and sharpen a project's domain model. Use when discussing codebase terminology, writing or editing a GLOSSARY.md, or recording or editing an ADR.
- figure-it-out — Design an auditable playbook when no narrower one fits: a large migration, an ambitious multi-part change, or work a human reviews after stepping away.