Repl Scratchpad

Use instead of chaining 3+ Bash calls, grep/cat/find pipelines, or any multi-step data processing. This skill should be used when the user asks to "start a scratchpad", "use the REPL", "scratchpad mode", "persistent Python session", or when a task involves exploration, analysis, or file processing that would benefit from composing operations in code rather than making individual tool calls. It creates a persistent Python REPL via tmux where variables survive across turns and only print() output enters context — a context-efficient alternative to Bash for data-heavy work.

24 stars 2 forksSoftware Development

Install

skills CLI (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more)

npx skills add knot0-com/repl-scratchpad --skill repl-scratchpad

Manual install

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/knot0-com/repl-scratchpad.git /tmp/repl-scratchpad
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -r /tmp/repl-scratchpad/. ~/.claude/skills/repl-scratchpad

Personal skills live in ~/.claude/skills. Use .claude/skills in a project folder to share a skill with your team.

From the SKILL.md

# REPL Scratchpad

A persistent Python REPL session that acts as a scratchpad for coding agents. Compose multi-step
operations in code. Variables persist across turns. Only `print()` output enters context.

Based on the [Recursive Language Models](https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24601) (RLM) approach by
Zhang, Kraska, and Khattab — extended with cross-turn persistence via tmux.

## The Problem

Coding agents waste context on raw data. Every tool call result — file contents, API responses,
query results — lands in the conversation and stays there forever. By turn 30, the model has
forgotten why it started.

The REPL scratchpad fixes this: the agent writes code that processes data inside the REPL and
only `print()`s what matters. The raw data never enters the conversation.

## When to Use

- Multi-step data exploration (query -> filter -> analyze -> summarize)
- Tasks requiring 3+ sequential tool calls that could be composed in one code block
- Working with structured data (JSON, CSV, API responses, database results)
- Accumulating state across turns (storing intermediate results for later use)
- Any task where raw tool output would bloat context unnecessarily

## When NOT to Use

- Simple single-file reads or edits (use Read/Edit tools directly)
- Git operations (use Bash directly)
- Tasks with no intermediate data to process

## Prerequisites

- `tmux` installed and available in PATH
- `python3` installed and available in PATH

## Setup

Start the scratchpad session by running:

Read the full skill on GitHub

Details

Skill name: repl-scratchpad
Repository: knot0-com/repl-scratchpad
License: MIT
Repo updated: 22 March 2026

FAQ

What does the Repl Scratchpad skill do?

How do I install the Repl Scratchpad skill?

skills CLI (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and more): npx skills add knot0-com/repl-scratchpad --skill repl-scratchpad. Skills go in ~/.claude/skills (personal) or .claude/skills (project), and Claude loads them automatically when a task matches the description.

Is Repl Scratchpad popular?

It lives in knot0-com/repl-scratchpad, which has 24 GitHub stars and 2 forks.

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