Chinese / 中文 | English
Strip any question down to its irreducible truths, then rebuild from there.
Axiom is an agentic skill that forces rigorous first-principles thinking on any decision or belief. Unlike generic "think deeper" prompts, Axiom introduces a structured 5-phase process with assumption classification (fact vs convention vs belief vs interest-driven), fragility × impact risk scoring, and anti-sycophancy rules that prevent the AI from simply agreeing with you.
Not framework fill-in-the-blank — this is assumption prosecution.
| Existing tools | Axiom |
|---|---|
| Template fill-in: "problem → assumptions → rebuild" | Force-classifies each assumption's nature — different types need different challenge strategies |
| English-only examples (SpaceX, microservices) | Bilingual: Chinese + English scenarios with culturally-specific assumption checklists |
| Outputs a list of assumptions with no prioritization | Risk matrix: Fragility × Impact scoring → "Most Dangerous Assumptions Top 3" |
| AI tends to agree with user's original conclusion | Anti-sycophancy rules: Hard constraints that prevent flattery and force genuine intellectual challenge |
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Phase 1: REFRAME │
│ Confirm the question itself is correctly defined │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Phase 2: MINE │
│ Surface 8-12 hidden assumptions across 3 depth layers │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Phase 3: CLASSIFY │
│ 🔵 Physical Fact 🟡 Convention 🔴 Belief ⚫ Interest-Driven │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Phase 4: RANK │
│ Fragility (1-5) × Impact (1-5) → Top 3 Most Dangerous │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Phase 5: REBUILD │
│ Reconstruct from verified premises → Show cognitive shift │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Pick your agent and run a single command. All methods clone the skill into the directory your tool expects.
# Project-level (recommended)
git clone https://github.com/zhangyanxs/axiom.git .claude/skills/axiom
# Or global (available in all projects)
git clone https://github.com/zhangyanxs/axiom.git ~/.claude/skills/axiomThen in Claude Code, type /axiom or just say "help me think through this from first principles".
# Project-level
git clone https://github.com/zhangyanxs/axiom.git .cursor/skills/axiomOr use Settings → Rules → Add Rule → Remote Rule (GitHub) and paste the repo URL.
git clone https://github.com/zhangyanxs/axiom.git ~/.gemini/antigravity/skills/axiomThen say Use @axiom to analyze my decision.
git clone https://github.com/zhangyanxs/axiom.git .agents/skills/axiomgit clone https://github.com/zhangyanxs/axiom.git ~/.kiro/skills/axiom# Clone to any path your agent reads skills from
git clone https://github.com/zhangyanxs/axiom.git /your/skills/path/axiomJust copy the contents of SKILL.md into your AI's system prompt or custom instructions. No installation needed.
Once installed, trigger axiom with natural language:
English:
first principles / break it down / question my assumptions / think from scratch / audit my reasoning / axiom
Chinese:
di-yi-xing-yuanli / bang-wo-xiang-qingchu / chai-jie / axiom
User: "I think I should quit my job to start a company"
Axiom Phase 4 output (excerpt):
🔴 A4 (Fragility 4 × Impact 5 = 20)
"My idea has enough market demand"
→ Do you have ANY paying users or letters of intent?
🔴 A2 (Fragility 3 × Impact 5 = 15)
"I have the ability to build something independently"
→ What have you independently built? At what scale?
🟡 A5 (Fragility 4 × Impact 3 = 12)
"If I fail, I can always start over"
→ What does "start over" actually mean given your age/debt/family?
axiom/
├── SKILL.md # Main entry point
├── references/
│ ├── scenarios.md # 8 scenario checklists (4 CN + 4 EN)
│ └── assumption-types.md # Classification handbook
├── examples/
│ ├── walkthrough-zh.md # Full Chinese example (quitting to start a business)
│ └── walkthrough-en.md # Full English example (dropping out for a startup)
├── README.md # English README
└── README_zh.md # Chinese README
| # | Scenario |
|---|---|
| 1 | Career Decisions (job change, startup, promotion) |
| 2 | Business & Product Validation (startup, new feature, pivot) |
| 3 | Financial & Life Decisions (property, investing, major purchases) |
| 4 | Belief & Worldview Audit (values, methodology, life philosophy) |
Each scenario includes 10-15 culturally-specific hidden assumptions and tailored probing questions.
Axiom includes hard constraints to prevent the AI from being a yes-man:
- 🚫 No agreeing with the user's original conclusion during decomposition
- 🚫 No "That's a great question" or similar flattery openers
- 🚫 No identical reconstruction — if nothing shifted, the analysis wasn't deep enough
- ✅ Must output at least one assumption the user won't want to hear
- ✅ Must hold firm like a devil's advocate until the user provides real evidence
Works with any AI coding assistant or chat interface that supports SKILL.md or custom instructions:
- Claude Code / Claude.ai
- Gemini CLI / Antigravity
- Cursor
- Codex CLI
- OpenCode
- GitHub Copilot
- Any LLM chat (paste SKILL.md as system prompt)
Contributions welcome! Areas that would be especially valuable:
- Additional scenario checklists (e.g., parenting decisions, health choices, academic career)
- More walkthrough examples in different languages
- Edge case documentation for the classification system
- Integration guides for specific AI tools
MIT
Inspired by: Elon Musk's first-principles reasoning, Charlie Munger's mental models, and the observation that most "first-principles" tools stop at listing assumptions without actually auditing them.