Sequential Thinking

This skill enables structured problem-solving through iterative reasoning, with capabilities for revision and branching.

When to Use

Use the reasoning.sequentialthinking tool when a problem requires multiple, interconnected reasoning steps, especially if the initial scope is uncertain or you may need to backtrack and revise earlier conclusions.

Don't use for: Simple queries, direct facts, or single-step tasks.

Basic Usage

The MCP tool reasoning.sequentialthinking accepts the following parameters:

Required Parameters

• thought (string): The current reasoning step.
• nextThoughtNeeded (boolean): Whether more reasoning is needed.
• thoughtNumber (integer): The current step number (starts at 1).
• totalThoughts (integer): The estimated total number of steps needed.

Optional Parameters

• isRevision (boolean): Indicates this thought revises a previous one.
• revisesThought (integer): The thought number being reconsidered.

Workflow Pattern

1. Start with your initial thought (thoughtNumber: 1).
2. Iterate: For each subsequent step, express your reasoning in the thought parameter and update the totalThoughts estimate. Set nextThoughtNeeded: true to continue the chain.
3. Conclude: When you reach a conclusion, set nextThoughtNeeded: false.

Example

// First thought
await reasoning.sequentialthinking({
  thought: "The problem involves optimizing database queries. The first step is to identify the primary bottlenecks.",
  thoughtNumber: 1,
  totalThoughts: 5,
  nextThoughtNeeded: true
});

// Second thought
await reasoning.sequentialthinking({
  thought: "Analysis of the query logs reveals a significant N+1 problem in the user data fetching endpoint.",
  thoughtNumber: 2,
  totalThoughts: 5, // Scope remains the same
  nextThoughtNeeded: true
});

// ... continue until the final thought
await reasoning.sequentialthinking({
  thought: "The solution is to refactor the endpoint to use a single join. No further thought is needed on this specific problem.",
  thoughtNumber: 5,
  totalThoughts: 5,
  nextThoughtNeeded: false
});