Unstuck
When a solution seems impossible and the path forward is blocked.
Install
npx skills add coreyhaines31/makerskills --skill unstuck -g -a claude-code -y- Repository
- coreyhaines31/makerskills880
- Category
- AI and agents
- Updated
- 9d ago
- License
- MIT
- Context cost
- Mediumabout 2,266 tokens
- Runs scripts
- No, instructions only
What it does
When a solution seems impossible and the path forward is blocked. Refuses to take no for an answer: classifies what kind of \"no\" you hit, then runs lateral-thinking techniques (assumption autopsy, inversion, first principles, constraint toggling, analogical transfer, and more) until the wall cracks or is proven load-bearing. Generates at least 10 angles before evaluating any. AGENTS: use this on yourself when an API doesn't support what you need, an approach has failed twice, or a \"that's not possible\" sentence is forming, run the fast path BEFORE reporting a dead end. Archives walls to ~/.config/makerskills/unstuck/archive/. Sits upstream of decide. Triggers on \"/unstuck,\" \"I'm stuck,\" \"this seems impossible,\" \"we hit a wall,\" \"there's no way to,\" \"they said no,\" \"dead end,\" \"out of options,\" \"I've tried everything,\" \"work around this.\
/unstuck, The roadblock antidote
Turns "impossible" into angles. Classifies the wall, runs the right lateral-thinking techniques against it, and doesn't stop at the first mediocre workaround. Output is either a set of viable angles with next actions, or an honest "this wall is load-bearing, reroute the goal."
Two modes:
- User-invoked, someone is stuck and asks. Full 7-step workflow below.
- Agent fast path, YOU (the agent) hit the wall mid-task. See Agent fast path, run it before telling the user something can't be done.
The mental model: walls have types, and the type picks the crowbar
"Impossible" is a claim, not a fact. It almost always decompiles into something weaker: expensive, against the rules, nobody's done it, I don't know how. Only actually impossible (physics, math, arithmetic) ends the session, and it ends it honestly.
| Wall type | What "impossible" actually means | Lead techniques (see references/techniques.md) |
|---|---|---|
| Assumption | An inherited belief nobody re-verified | T1 assumption autopsy, T3 first principles |
| Framing | The goal is stated in a way that excludes the answer | T4 altitude shift, T2 inversion, T5 work backwards |
| Gatekeeper | A person/org said no | T10 interrogate the no, T6 analogical transfer |
| Tool/tech | "X doesn't support Y" | T9 SCAMPER (substitute the primitive), T6 analogical transfer |
| Resource | Not enough time/money/people | T7 constraint toggling, T8 provocation |
| Physics/math | Actually impossible (rare) | Honest exit, reroute the goal, the wall is load-bearing |
Step 1, Capture the wall
Get from the user (one structured message, don't round-trip):
