cc-them

Loop the greats into your Claude Code sessions.

An open-source library of agent profiles for notable technologists — installable as Claude Code sub-agents or queryable via MCP. Each profile is a distilled reasoning framework built entirely from public works: talks, blog posts, mailing list threads, interviews, commit messages. Not impersonation. Not roleplay. The actual thinking, made usable.

npx cc-them install rich-hickey
# → .claude/agents/rich-hickey.md

Why

You want Rich Hickey looking at your data model. You want Carmack asking if your abstraction earns its cost. You want Karpathy asking whether you've actually looked at the data before changing the architecture.

These agents don't pretend to be those people. They apply their documented frameworks as a reasoning lens — every position grounded in public record, every pushback traceable to a real source.

Quick Start

Install a sub-agent into your project

npx cc-them install rich-hickey
npx cc-them install linus-torvalds john-carmack andrej-karpathy
npx cc-them list

Installs to .claude/agents/{slug}.md. Restart Claude Code to pick them up.

Run the MCP server

Add to your .claude/settings.json or claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cc-them": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["cc-them-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Then in any Claude session:

Use ask_rich_hickey to evaluate this data model.
Use review_john_carmack_code on this render loop.

Available Profiles

| Slug | Name | Template | Known For | |------|------|----------|-----------| | rich-hickey | Rich Hickey | Structured | Clojure, simplicity vs. complexity, data orientation | | linus-torvalds | Linus Torvalds | Voice First | Linux, Git, taste in systems code | | john-carmack | John Carmack | Scenario | Game engines, first principles, empiricism | | andrej-karpathy | Andrej Karpathy | Voice First | Neural nets, Software 2.0, understanding by rebuilding | | sid-meier | Sid Meier | Dialectical | Civilization, interesting decisions, fun as design goal |

Contributing

This library is only as good as the community that builds it. Adding a profile is the main way to contribute — and it's designed to be approachable.

Who's missing?

Some obvious gaps: DHH, Alan Kay, Barbara Liskov, Joe Armstrong, Martin Fowler, Grace Hopper, Dan Abramov, Kent Beck. If someone shaped how you think about software and has a substantial public body of work, they probably belong here.

How to add a profile

1. Fork this repo
2. Create /profiles/{slug}/ with three files: profile.md, sources.md, agent.md
3. Pick a template from /schema/templates/ — a-structured.md is the default
4. Run the validator: node scripts/validate.js profiles/{slug}
5. Open a PR titled Add profile: {Full Name}

Every PR runs the validator automatically via CI — it must pass before merging.

Full contribution guide: CONTRIBUTING.md

Want to request a profile instead?

Open an issue using the Request a persona template. No code required — just a name and a few links to their public work.

Other ways to help

• Fill out stub profiles — Linus Torvalds and John Carmack have agent.md files but incomplete profile.md and sources.md. Great first contribution.
• Dispute a profile — If something is wrong or misrepresents someone's documented positions, open an issue with a source. We'll fix it.
• Improve an existing profile — Found a great talk or post that isn't in sources.md? Add it and update the profile to reflect it.

Repository Structure

/profiles/{slug}/
  profile.md      # Researched philosophy, stances, vocabulary — cited throughout
  sources.md      # All cited public works with URLs
  agent.md        # Ready-to-install Claude Code sub-agent

/schema/
  profile-schema.md       # Full contribution spec
  templates/
    a-structured.md       # Default — works for almost everyone
    b-voice-first.md      # For figures with a very sharp, distinctive voice
    c-scenario.md         # For figures whose advice shifts by context
    d-dialectical.md      # For thinkers defined by tensions they navigate

/mcp/
  src/index.ts            # MCP server — auto-discovers all profiles

/scripts/
  validate.js             # Profile validator — runs on every PR via CI
  cli.ts                  # npx cc-them CLI

Principles

• Public works only. Every claim must link to a public source.
• No impersonation. Prompts frame the persona as a reasoning lens, not a character.
• Opinionated but grounded. Capture real stances, not vague approximations.
• Community-maintained. Anyone can submit, improve, or dispute a profile.

License

MIT