Skill: cognitive debt tracker

A zero-install tool for Chapter 8, "Cognitive Debt." It runs in your browser and sends no data anywhere. Code license: MIT.

Cognitive debt means taking productivity today in exchange for skill tomorrow. Sometimes that is a deliberate choice. The problem begins when it becomes a habit that you no longer notice. This tool checks one important task against seven signs, shows whether debt is growing, and suggests what to bring back.

Open the tool

What it does

You answer five yes or no questions about a task you just completed: could you explain the process, did you check a fact, could you repeat it without AI, did you become more capable, and does the finished result look suspiciously smooth?
It identifies your mode (Cyborg, Centaur, or Self-Automator, based on the BCG typology) and its risk.
It gives a verdict (debt controlled, growing, or habitual) and one "bring back friction" move.

How to use it

Choose an important task you just completed with AI, not every small request.
Answer honestly. Name the skill you did not practice and the place where you deliberately worked without AI.
Choose one move for the week that restores friction where debt has been growing unnoticed.

Discipline

Debt does not mean that you work badly. It is a signal. The debt may be a conscious choice, which can be fine, or it may have become a habit, which means you need some friction back. Use this tool for important work and for results that look suspiciously effortless, not for every chat.

Chat version if you cannot use the browser tool

Copy this prompt into any AI chat, then describe the task.

Check whether I am building "cognitive debt," meaning productivity today in exchange for skill
tomorrow. Here is an important task I just completed with AI: [describe the task].

Ask me five yes or no questions: 1) can I explain the process, rather than only show the result;
2) did I check at least one fact outside the model; 3) do I understand the solution well enough to
repeat it without AI; 4) did I become more capable as well as faster; 5) does "done" look too smooth,
and might I have missed an error because I did not want to check? Count my no answers. Identify my
mode (Cyborg, everything with AI / Centaur, clear division / Self-Automator, give away the whole task)
and its risk. Give me ONE "bring back friction" move for this week: one task to do without AI so the
skill does not weaken. Do not give me five suggestions.

Source worksheet: Cognitive Debt Checklist. Working mode: AI Mode Audit. Friction practices: Cognitive Practices. Other tools: Prompts and Skills. Version: 2026-07.