By Dan Donovan, @askdandonovan
There's a free skill that stops Claude from burying the answer under six paragraphs. Action first, numbered steps, no "hope this helps". It works in Claude chat, in Cowork, and in Claude Code. Pick your setup below, or paste the copy-paste version in the next two minutes.
i-have-adhd is a free, open-source skill for Claude. It rewrites the way Claude replies so the thing you actually need to do lands first, not after a wall of setup and pleasantries. Same skill, three places you can run it: Claude chat, Cowork, and Claude Code.
Paste this into any Claude chat and every reply after it gets the treatment. Installing the skill later just makes it automatic so you never paste it again.
Answer everything like this from now on:
1. Lead with the action. Tell me what to do first, before any explanation.
2. Number every multi-step task.
3. Finish with the single next step.
4. Cut tangents and side-suggestions.
5. Restate where we're up to at the start of each reply.
6. Give time estimates in real minutes, not "a bit" or "quickly".
7. Point out wins so I can see progress.
8. State problems and errors plainly. No softening.
9. Never list more than 5 items.
10. No preamble, no recap, no "hope this helps".That's the skill's actual ruleset, written out. Try it on your next question and watch the answer get half as long and twice as useful.
It's the exact same skill in all three. If you mostly live in the Claude app, do Path A. If you use Cowork, Path B. If you're in the terminal with Claude Code, Path C.
Step 1: download the ready-made skill file. It's already zipped in the exact shape Claude wants (folder inside, licence included).
Download i-have-adhd-skill.zipStep 2: switch on what skills need. Go to Settings → Capabilities and turn on Code execution and File creation. Skills won't run without these.
Step 3: upload it. Go to Customize → Skills, click the +, choose Create skill, and pick the zip you just downloaded. Claude reads it and lists it as "i-have-adhd".
Step 4: test it. Start a new chat and ask a multi-step question. The reply should lead with the action and come back numbered.
Cowork uses the same Skills system as the app, so it's the same file. If you already did Path A, it's shared across both and you're done. If not:
Once it's on, Cowork applies it automatically whenever a task matches, so your agent runs come back action-first without you asking each time.
Step 1: download the plugin. Open your terminal and paste this. It copies the plugin from GitHub into a folder called i-have-adhd.
git clone https://github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd ./i-have-adhdStep 2: add it and install it. Paste the first line, let it finish, then the second.
claude plugin marketplace add ./i-have-adhdclaude plugin install i-have-adhd@i-have-adhdStep 3: turn it on. Inside Claude Code, type this and every answer follows the 10 rules.
/i-have-adhd"Always on" means it shapes every reply automatically. "Per session" means it stays quiet until you switch it on for the chat you're in. Here's the exact way to do each, per surface.
Type it when you want it. It holds for that session, then it's gone when you close the window.
/i-have-adhdAdd one standing instruction to your global Claude Code file so every new session starts with it. Paste this once in your terminal.
echo "Always follow the i-have-adhd skill in every response." >> ~/.claude/CLAUDE.mdclaude plugin disable i-have-adhdNothing extra to do. Once the skill is uploaded and enabled in Customize → Skills, its built-in description tells Claude to apply it to every message, so it just works across all your chats. To stop it everywhere, toggle the skill off in that same Skills list.
Only when you say so
The app doesn't have a per-chat on/off switch, so to control it by chat you use a
trigger-word version. Open the SKILL.md inside the folder and change the
top block to this, so it only fires when you type the phrase:
---
name: i-have-adhd
description: ADHD-friendly output formatting. Only apply when the message contains the phrase 'adhd on'. Otherwise do not use.
---Re-zip the folder and re-upload it:
zip -r i-have-adhd-skill.zip i-have-adhdNow it stays quiet until you type adhd on in a chat. That's your per-session switch.
This is exactly what the skill enforces on every reply. Worth knowing, because in the next section you'll tweak them to fit how your brain works.
Most people install it and stop. The real unlock is editing the rules. They live in a plain text file called SKILL.md. Change a line, save, and Claude obeys the new version.
Three edits worth making:
./i-have-adhd/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md, then re-run the two install commands from Path C
so Claude Code picks up the change. In Claude chat / Cowork, edit the
SKILL.md inside the folder, re-zip, and re-upload. Either way you've now got a version
tuned to you, not the default.
These are the moments where action-first replies actually change your day. Copy one, swap in your real situation, and see the difference.
I've been putting off [the task]. Give me the single next action to start it, then the numbered steps after that, with a time estimate on each.Here is an email / document. Do not summarise it. Just give me a numbered list (max 5) of what I actually need to DO about it, most important first.Here is everything on my plate today: [list it]. Give me a time-blocked plan in order, minutes on each block, hardest thing first. No pep talk.I need to decide between [option A] and [option B]. Give me your pick in the first line, then up to 3 reasons. No hedging.This started as one developer's fix for their own frustration and it's blowing up: thousands of stars on GitHub and climbing, with updates still landing this week. That's thousands of people who wanted the same thing you do: the answer, first, without digging for it. It's free and open source under an MIT licence, so there's nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for.
Skill by Ayoub Ghriss, MIT licensed. Source: github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd.