I Have Adhd

i-have-adhd — ADHD-Friendly Agent Output

A skill that shapes AI output so it's immediately actionable — ideal for coding agents, debugging, and step-by-step tasks.

Source

• GitHub: https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd
• Stars: ~38,300 (trending)
• License: MIT

What It Does

Transforms verbose, meandering AI responses into direct, numbered, action-first output. Based on cognitive science for ADHD brains — but useful for any developer who wants concise answers.

Installation

# For Claude Code
claude plugin install ayghri/i-have-adhd

# For OpenCode (add to config)
# See INSTALL.md in repo

# For Gemini CLI
# Add gemini-extension.json to your project

Or manually: copy skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md to your agent's skills directory.

Core Rules (10 Rules)

1. Lead with the next action — first line must be something the reader can do NOW
2. Number multi-step tasks — each step is one bounded action, no "and then" chains
3. End with one concrete next step — under 2 minutes, even if it's just "open the file"
4. Suppress tangents — finish the first issue before offering a second
5. Restate state every turn — "Step 3 of 5 done: X. Next: Y."
6. Give specific time estimates — "15 minutes" not "a bit"
7. Make wins visible — show what now works, don't bury it in prose
8. Matter-of-fact errors — "Test fails at line 42: expected 200, got 401. Cause: missing auth header."
9. Cap lists to 5 items — group related items, rank by relevance
10. No preamble, no recap, no closers — forbidden: "Great question!", "Hope this helps!"

Example: Bad vs Good

Bad:

Great question! Let me think about this. Your auth flow has a few moving pieces... By the way you might also want to check your dependencies. Hope this helps!

Good:

Run npm install jsonwebtoken@latest, then edit src/auth.ts:42.

1. Open src/auth.ts
2. Replace verifyToken (lines 42–58) with snippet below
3. Run npm test -- auth.spec.ts

Next: paste the first failing line if any test fails.

Usage in Hermes Agent

Add to your SKILL.md or use as a standalone skill. When invoked, the agent switches to this output style until told to stop.

/i-have-adhd        # activate ADHD mode
stop adhd mode      # deactivate

Pitfalls

• Not for creative writing — this skill is for technical/actionable output only
• Can override explain mode — if user asks "explain" or "walk me through", full explanation is given (but still no preamble/closer)
• Destructive actions still require confirmation — safety overrides brevity
• Agent harness rules take precedence — if the framework requires tool announcements, do those; keep the output shape otherwise

Verification

After installing, test with:

User: "How do I fix a 401 error in my Next.js app?"
Expected: Direct command + numbered steps, no preamble

References

• GitHub: https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd
• Based on: The Adult ADHD Tool Kit by J. Russell Ramsay & Anthony L. Rostain