moon midas
toolbox / skill 01

First Principles Thinking

A skill for getting underneath assumptions, borrowed rules, and habits before choosing what to do.

version: 1.0.0works with: ChatGPT, Codex, Claude Code, and Agent Skills

01

what it does

This skill takes a problem that feels fixed and asks what is actually fixed about it. It separates facts and real constraints from habits, preferences, and rules borrowed from somebody else.

The point is to find options that were hidden by the way the problem was framed.

02

when to use it

Use it when a strategy feels copied, a process has become complicated, or everybody keeps defending a rule without remembering why it exists.

It also helps with product decisions, offers, beliefs, and plans where too many assumptions have been bundled together.

03

requirements

You need a compatible AI agent that can read Markdown instructions. You also need to give it the problem or desired outcome, the relevant context, and any constraints you already know are real.

It works with ChatGPT, Codex, Claude Code, and agents that support the Agent Skills format. It does not need an API key, package, or script.

04

how it works

The skill follows six steps:

  1. State the desired outcome.
  2. List the assumptions and inherited rules.
  3. Separate facts from interpretations and habits.
  4. Find what must be true technically, economically, psychologically, or operationally.
  5. Rebuild options from those fundamentals.
  6. Compare the new options with the original approach.

05

what you get back

The response includes the assumptions, the fundamentals, rebuilt options, the best next test, and the main risks.

It reduces confusion. It does not pretend uncertainty has disappeared.

06

example prompt

"Use First Principles Thinking to rebuild this plan from what is actually required. Here is the outcome I want, the current plan, and the constraints I believe are real."

07

files

08

install with Codex

Point Codex to this page and give it this exact request:

"Download the skill bundle from https://moonmidas.com/ai-skills/first-principles-thinking/first-principles-thinking-1.0.0.zip. Read its SKILL.md and manifest before installing it. Verify the listed files. Then ask for permission before copying it into my Codex skills directory."

Codex may need permission to download the bundle and write to its skills directory. The skill becomes available on the next turn after installation.