what-the

what-the is an open-source workflow skill for Claude Code and compatible agents, published by thedotmack. Its author describes it as: “What the? Use when the user wants a plain-English breakdown of something technical — the who, what, where, why, and when.”. The project has 90k stars on GitHub and is available under the Apache-2.0 license. Add it to your setup with `/plugin marketplace add thedotmack/claude-mem`.

Installation

Add what-the to your agent with:

/plugin marketplace add thedotmack/claude-mem

Always review a skill's source before installing it. This command comes from the skill's public repository; the linked repo is the source of truth for exact setup steps.

When to use it

Reach for what-the when you want workflow help from your agent without writing the same instructions every session. Load the skill and the agent picks it up automatically for relevant tasks.

Strengths

• Clear Apache-2.0 license — safe to read and adapt
• Ships in thedotmack/claude-mem, an established project with 89,787 GitHub stars
• Actively maintained (recent commits)

Topics

Frequently asked questions

What does what-the do?

What the? Use when the user wants a plain-English breakdown of something technical — the who, what, where, why, and when.

How do I install what-the?

Run /plugin marketplace add thedotmack/claude-mem in your agent, then reload your skills. Review the source at https://github.com/thedotmack/claude-mem before installing.

Is what-the free to use?

Yes. what-the is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 license, so you can read, run, and adapt it within that license's terms.

Where does what-the come from?

what-the ships inside thedotmack/claude-mem, a repository that contains 21 catalogued skills in total. The repository's 89,787 GitHub stars apply to that whole collection, not to this skill on its own.