How the i-have-adhd Skill Suppresses Tangents in LLM Responses

The i-have-adhd skill enforces a strict "one issue at a time" rule through Rule 4, which forces the model to complete the primary answer before mentioning secondary issues and removes "by the way" remarks via a pre-send filter.

The i-have-adhd skill is a Cursor-compatible specification that reshapes how large language models communicate with readers who have ADHD. Maintained in the ayghri/i-have-adhd repository, this skill uses behavioral rules rather than code to constrain output generation. The suppress tangents mechanism—formalized as Rule 4—ensures that responses remain singularly focused and free of distracting digressions.

How Rule 4: Suppress Tangents Works

The suppression logic operates in three layers, all defined in the markdown-based skill file.

Issue Sequencing Enforcement

When a response would naturally address multiple distinct topics, the skill mandates strict serialization:

1. Finish the first issue completely before acknowledging any secondary matter.
2. Present additional issues as separate questions, appended only after the primary answer terminates.
3. Remove "by-the-way" patterns such as "Also, …" or "By the way, …" during the pre-send validation phase.

This sequencing prevents the cognitive overload that occurs when readers must track parallel threads.

Pre-Send Filter Implementation

The skill engine performs a post-generation cleanup pass described at the end of SKILL.md. This filter:

• Scans for tangent indicators (transitional phrases signaling topic shifts).
• Deletes or rewrites detected tangents into discrete follow-up offers.
• Regenerates the response if residual digressions remain after filtering.

The filter runs automatically for every response while the skill is active—no user intervention required.

Structural Validation

Final outputs must satisfy format constraints that inherently block tangents:

Position	Requirement	Anti-Tangent Effect
First line	Actionable step	Forces immediate relevance
Last line	Next concrete action	Closes the single thread cleanly

Any content violating this structure triggers regeneration.

Source Code Locations

The suppress tangents rule is formally specified in two identical skill definitions:

• skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md (lines 66-73)【/cache/repos/github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/main/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md†L66-L73】
• .cursor/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md (duplicate for Cursor engine integration)【/cache/repos/github.com/ayghri/i-have-adhd/main/.cursor/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md†L66-L73】

These files contain no executable code—the rule exists as declarative markdown that Cursor's skill engine interprets.

Before and After Examples

Unfiltered output (violates Rule 4):

Here's the fix for the login bug.
By the way, your README is missing a section on environment variables.
Do you want me to add that now?

After suppression filter:

Here's the fix for the login bug.
Separately: your README is missing a section on environment variables. Want me to handle that next?

The rewrite preserves the secondary issue but transforms it from an embedded distraction into an explicit, deferrable decision point.

Activating the Skill

Include the skill reference in your agent configuration:

# skills/i-have-adhd/agents/openai.yaml

system: |
  {{< skill i-have-adhd >}}
user: |
  How do I refactor this function?

Alternative configurations exist for Gemini in skills/i-have-adhd/agents/gemini.toml. Once loaded, the skill engine applies Rule 4 to every response without additional prompting.

Summary

• Rule 4: Suppress Tangents is a behavioral constraint, not a code module—it lives in SKILL.md as declarative rules.
• The skill engine enforces sequential single-issue resolution through pre-send filtering and structural validation.
• Tangent patterns (e.g., "By the way") are rewritten into discrete follow-up questions to maintain reader focus.
• Two file paths implement the same rule: skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md and .cursor/skills/i-have-adhd/SKILL.md.

Frequently Asked Questions

What triggers the suppress tangents filter?

The filter activates on any recognizable digression pattern: transitional phrases ("Also," "Additionally," "Speaking of which"), parenthetical asides, or appended secondary issues. The pre-send check pattern-matches against these indicators and either deletes them or restructures them into explicit follow-up offers.

Can I customize which phrases count as tangents?

No—the current implementation in ayghri/i-have-adhd uses a fixed rule set defined in SKILL.md. The skill specification does not expose configuration parameters for tangent detection. Forking the repository and modifying the "Suppress tangents" section would be required to alter the behavior.

Does the skill prevent all multi-topic responses?

Not entirely—it enforces serialization rather than elimination. Secondary topics are permitted only when reformatted as separate, explicitly deferred questions. The response may acknowledge additional issues exist, but cannot interleave their resolution with the primary answer.

How does this differ from standard system prompt instructions?

Standard prompts rely on the model's compliance; this skill uses guaranteed post-processing. The Cursor skill engine validates structure after generation and regenerates non-compliant outputs, making enforcement deterministic rather than probabilistic.

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