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principle-attack-the-premise SKILL.md skillA

This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed, one of 3 indexed copies. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.

principle-attack-the-premise from iap/pstack-hermes is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

Install it, pinned

mdr add iap/pstack-hermes/principle-attack-the-premise@git:20261006.f7c5841

Pins git:20261006.f7c5841 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade: A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind: SKILL.md skill
Repository: iap/pstack-hermes
Path: skills/principle-attack-the-premise/SKILL.md
Versions recorded: 1
Latest version: git:20261006.f7c5841, committed Oct 6, 2026
Size: 1,941 bytes
Repository stars: 32
License: a license file GitHub does not identify

Apply when two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate. Take a census of which actors hold the imbalance before the next fix, then question the premise instead of writing another fix that assumes it.

Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.

What the file says

# Attack the Premise

When two or more fixes that share one premise have failed the same gate, suspect the premise, not the fixes.

**Why:** Each failure under a shared premise is evidence about the premise.

**Pattern:**
- **Write the premise down.** The premise is the one sentence that every failed fix assumed.
- **Take a census before the next fix.** Count the imbalance per actor. The census shows which actors hold the imbalance, not how large it is. Write the census as a rerunnable script per [Build the Lever](../principle-build-the-lever/SKILL.md).
- **Read the skew.** If the same few actors hold most of the imbalance on every run, something assigns them that role. Find what assigns the role. That assignment is the next "why" per [Fix Root Causes](../principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md).
- **Remove the asymmetry instead of compensating for it**, per the [Laziness Protocol](../principle-laziness-protocol/SKILL.md). Rotate the role between actors, randomize the assignment, or move the role, so that no actor holds it on every run. A return path, a shared pool, a batched hand-off, or a periodic rebalance leaves the assignment in place and adds work on every run.

**Stop:**
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint

mdr add iap/pstack-hermes/principle-attack-the-premise@sha256:c87bd7536f772f8a

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261006.f7c5841, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.

Badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_3m7dzw2xmgh2dhpm.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_3m7dzw2xmgh2dhpm)

2 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.

Versions

The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Oct 6, 2026.

version	committed	commit	size	audit
git:20261006.f7c5841 latest	2026-10-06	f7c5841	1,941 B	A	view

Audit of the latest version

A 17 of 17 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.

pass: Frontmatter block present
pass: Frontmatter declares a name
pass: Frontmatter declares a description
pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (1941 bytes)
pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
pass: No credential-shaped string
pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
pass: No text hidden with inline styles
pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
pass: No link to a raw IP address
pass: No script tag

Source

GitHub

iap/pstack-hermes · 32 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-11-04 · branch master

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_3m7dzw2xmgh2dhpm
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=iap/pstack-hermes/principle-attack-the-premise
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/c87bd7536f772f8a403ad8155535ee17a1bbec9a353156693eb3bb1520c87ae3

Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.

Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.

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