thinking-in-systems

AI-assisted development framework for Claude Code and Cursor. Ships 29 skills that guide AI through your entire product lifecycle — from idea validation to growth.

Quick Start

# Create a new project (no install needed)
npx thinking-in-systems init

# Or install globally for the short command
npm i -g thinking-in-systems
tis init my-app --type web

What You Get

When you run tis init, your project gets:

my-app/
├── CLAUDE.md          # AI context file (auto-loaded by Claude Code)
├── .cursorrules       # Cursor config
├── .mcp.json          # MCP server config (11 servers)
├── skills/            # 29 AI development skills
│   ├── verification/          # Anti-hallucination protocol
│   ├── test-driven-development/  # Strict TDD enforcement
│   ├── systematic-debugging/     # 4-phase root cause analysis
│   ├── code-review/              # Two-stage review + anti-sycophancy
│   ├── phase-0-validation/       # Market research + kill checks
│   ├── phase-6-launch/           # Landing page, SEO, distribution
│   ├── phase-7-growth/           # Content, hooks, analytics
│   └── ...14 more
├── docs/              # PRD, tasks, changelog templates
├── brain-dump.md      # Start here — dump your idea
└── .github/           # CI/CD workflow templates

Then open Claude Code and say: "Read brain-dump.md and run Phase 0 validation"

Commands

tis init [name]

Create a new project with all skills and templates.

tis init                          # interactive
tis init my-app --type web        # non-interactive
tis init my-app --type mobile     # React Native/Expo
tis init my-app --type macos      # SwiftUI
tis init my-app --type api        # Backend service
tis init my-app --type fullstack  # Full-stack

tis add <skill...>

Add specific skills to an existing project.

tis add tdd debugging             # add by name or alias
tis add verification code-review  # multiple at once
tis add --all                     # add everything

Dependencies are auto-resolved — adding a Phase 7 skill automatically copies the psychology frameworks it references.

tis list

See all available skills.

tis list                       # all 29 skills
tis list --category core       # just core (14 skills)
tis list --category phase-0    # validation skills
tis list --category phase-7    # growth skills

tis mcp

Setup the 8 global MCP servers that power the skills.

tis mcp          # install servers (prompts for API keys)
tis mcp --list   # check what's installed

Free (no key needed): Context7, Playwright, Dialog MCP, Google News Trends Need API key (free tier): Brave Search, Exa, Firecrawl, Apify

The 29 Skills

Core Development (14)

| Skill | What It Does | |-------|-------------| | verification | Anti-hallucination protocol with Iron Law gate — bans "should work" claims | | test-driven-development | Strict RED-GREEN-REFACTOR. Wrote code before test? Delete it. | | systematic-debugging | 4-phase root cause analysis. 3+ fixes fail = question the architecture | | code-review | Two-stage review (spec compliance + code quality) with anti-sycophancy | | testing | Unit, integration, E2E with property-based testing triggers | | context-management | Session state handoffs when context window fills up | | architecture-design | Tech stack decisions | | frontend-design | UI/UX with Vercel design guidelines | | product-development | Full 8-phase workflow | | git-workflow | Branching, commits, PRs | | deployment | Dev to production pipeline | | research | MCP-powered market/tech validation | | launch-prep | Pre-launch security + readiness checklist | | skill-creator | Create your own skills (with TDD methodology) |

Phase 0: Validation (4)

Validate your idea before building. Uses MCP servers for real data.

brain-dump → market-research → competitor-analysis → kill-check (GO/PIVOT/KILL)

Phase 6: Launch (4)

Ship and distribute.

landing-page → seo-aso → distribution → launch-kill-check

Phase 7: Growth (7)

Data-driven growth with psychology frameworks and slop detection.

data-mining → content-research → hook-generation → content-creation → seo-optimization → performance-analysis → growth-kill-check

Frameworks

• _psychology/ — Hook frameworks (PAS, Curiosity Gap, FOMO), emotional triggers, platform algorithms
• _engine/ — Kill-check base scoring, token budgeting, safety rules

How Skills Work

Skills are markdown files that Claude Code and Cursor read automatically. They contain:

• When to use — trigger conditions
• Process — step-by-step workflow
• Rationalizations to reject — agent loophole prevention
• Pre-completion checklist — gate before claiming done

You reference them in conversation: "Use the verification skill to check this code" or they activate automatically when Claude reads your skills/ directory.

Skill Aliases

Short names for faster tis add:

| Alias | Skill | |-------|-------| | tdd | test-driven-development | | debug | systematic-debugging | | review | code-review | | verify | verification | | context | context-management | | hooks | hook-generation | | content | content-creation | | seo | seo-aso |

Requirements

• Node.js >= 16
• Claude Code or Cursor (for using the skills)
• MCP servers (optional, for Phase 0/6/7 skills)

License

MIT

Built by @adeidei