How i‑have‑adhd Caps Lists at 5 Items: Rule 9 Explained

The i‑have‑adhd skill enforces a five‑item list limit through a prompt‑driven constraint called Rule 9, which instructs the LLM to truncate any longer list and split the remainder into a separate block.

The ayghri/i‑have‑adhd repository is an open‑source AI skill designed to produce ADHD‑friendly outputs. One of its core behavioral guarantees is that enumerated lists never exceed five items. This article explains exactly how that cap is implemented, where the rule is defined, and why the authors chose this specific limit.

Where the 5‑Item Cap Is Defined

The five‑item list limit is formally specified as Rule 9 in the skill's configuration. Unlike traditional software constraints enforced by conditional logic, this is a prompt‑level instruction embedded in the system prompt sent to every LLM invocation.

Rule 9 states:

"Cap lists at 5 items; split into now/later or must/nice‑to‑have if longer."

This rule appears in multiple configuration files across the repository:

• skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md — Human‑readable description of all 10 rules
• skills/i-have-adhd/agents/gemini.toml — Agent configuration for Google's Gemini model
• skills/i-have-adhd/agents/claude.yaml — Agent configuration for Anthropic's Claude model

According to the source code in SKILL.md, the developers selected five as a "sweet spot between providing enough actionable items and preventing information overload."

How the LLM Enforces the Cap

The i-have-adhd skill does not use post‑processing code to truncate lists. Instead, it relies entirely on the LLM's instruction‑following behavior. Here's the execution flow:

1. Prompt assembly — The agent configuration files concatenate all 10 rules into a single system prompt string
2. LLM invocation — The assembled prompt is prepended to every user request
3. Automatic compliance — The model internally limits its output to five items when generating lists
4. Optional splitting — For lists exceeding five items, the model (or an optional post‑processor) inserts a divider and continues with a second block

This prompt‑driven approach means no runtime code checks list length — the constraint is behavioral, baked into how the model responds.

Rule 9 in Practice: Code Examples

Command Line Usage (Codex)

$ codex plugin marketplace add ayghri/i-have-adhd --ref main
$ codex plugin add i-have-adhd@i-have-adhd
$ i-have-adhd "Give me ten ways to improve focus"

Expected output:

1. Use the Pomodoro technique
2. Turn off non‑essential notifications
3. Break tasks into smaller steps
4. Keep a distraction‑free workspace
5. Schedule regular short breaks

Any remaining suggestions would appear in a follow‑up block labeled "later" or "nice‑to‑have."

Claude Plugin Invocation

claude plugin marketplace add ayghri/i-have-adhd
claude plugin install i-have-adhd@i-have-adhd
/ i-have-adhd List the key features of this repository

Result:

1. Clear, numbered steps
2. No unnecessary pre‑ambles
3. Action‑first output style
4. Lists capped at five items
5. No recaps or closing pleasantries

Raw System Prompt Fragment

System prompt injected by i-have-adhd:
...
9. Cap lists at 5 items; split into now/later or must/nice-to-have if longer.
...

When a user asks: "List the languages I should learn next year", the assistant responds with exactly five items — for example: Python, Rust, Go, TypeScript, Kotlin — then stops or continues in a labeled second group.

Key Files That Define the List Cap

File	Purpose
SKILL.md	Human‑readable rule descriptions including Rule 9
agents/gemini.toml	Gemini‑specific prompt assembly
agents/claude.yaml	Claude‑specific prompt assembly
README.md	Quick reference to all 10 rules
INSTALL.md	Rule set repeated for end users

These files work together: SKILL.md documents the intent, while the .toml and .yaml agent configurations operationalize it by embedding Rule 9 into executable system prompts.

Why Five Items Specifically

The i-have-adhd maintainers explicitly designed for cognitive load reduction. Five items represent:

• Enough breadth to cover a topic meaningfully
• A small enough set to hold in working memory
• A natural breakpoint for "now versus later" prioritization

This aligns with the skill's broader design principles: clear numbered steps, no unnecessary preambles, action‑first output, and no closing pleasantries. The five‑item cap is not arbitrary — it is a deliberate UX constraint for users who benefit from concise, chunked information.

Summary

• Rule 9 in SKILL.md and agent config files defines the five‑item list cap
• The constraint is prompt‑driven, not code‑enforced — the LLM follows it automatically
• gemini.toml and claude.yaml inject Rule 9 into system prompts for their respective models
• Lists longer than five items are split into prioritized blocks (now/later, must/nice‑to‑have)
• The limit was chosen to balance information density with ADHD‑friendly cognitive load

Frequently Asked Questions

Does i‑have‑adhd use code to truncate lists?

No. The skill relies entirely on prompt engineering. Rule 9 is embedded in the system prompt, and the LLM's instruction‑following behavior ensures compliance without additional runtime checks.

Where can I read the exact wording of Rule 9?

The canonical definition is in skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md. The same rule appears in agents/gemini.toml and agents/claude.yaml where it is concatenated into executable system prompts.

What happens to list items beyond the fifth?

The model either omits them or splits them into a second labeled block such as "later" or "nice‑to‑have." This behavior is also specified in Rule 9's directive to split longer lists.

Can I change the list cap to a different number?

Yes, by forking the repository and modifying Rule 9 in SKILL.md and the corresponding agent configuration files. However, this would deviate from the skill's ADHD‑optimized design rationale.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}