Module 5 · Section 1 of 9

Claude’s default behaviour when you ask “should I use Redis or PostgreSQL for this?” is to answer immediately. It’s responsive, it’s fast, it often sounds convincing. It’s also skipping most of the work that makes the answer correct.

The think-first skill intercepts that pattern. It detects when a message contains a decision moment — an architectural choice, a trade-off analysis, a “which option is better?” — and requires applying at least one structured mental model before any implementation begins.